Top Things to Try to Manage Teeth Grinding

Clenching your teeth when the jaw is at rest is not normal. This condition, commonly referred to as bruxism, is a dysfunction of the chewing muscles (temporomandibular muscles), usually occurring at night, causing teeth grinding. This unconscious and involuntary disorder can have many origins and cause serious damage to the teeth, jaw, and oral cavity if left untreated. However, you can prevent it effectively with some simple tips and treatment methods.

 In this article, we share some of the top tips to manage teeth grinding!

Bruxism

Bruxism is often associated with teeth grinding, but the grinding symptom is not always present. It is a functional disorder that manifests itself by the involuntary friction or clenching of the teeth. Although most often occurring at night, symptoms can also occur during the day.

You might have heard about night teeth guards, one of the most effective solutions to prevent teeth grinding. But even the best custom night guard alone cannot help you eliminate the habit of clenching your jaw. You must complement its use with some simple lifestyle changes or habits to overcome it completely.

Before we move on to the tips to manage teeth grinding, let's discuss the types of bruxism:

There are two types of bruxism:

• Dynamic: In this patient involuntarily rubs the upper jaw against the lower one. These include nocturnal bruxism, during which an annoying noise is emitted, and a creak
• Static: Hereyou don't hear any particular noise. This is the most observed case during daytime bruxism.

Causes of Bruxism

Your solution to preventing teeth grinding depends on the type of bruxism you suffer from and its causes. The latter is, in fact, the major determining factor when it comes to treating bruxism. Depending on the underlying cause, you may try one thing or the other to overcome teeth grinding.

The causes of bruxism are often multiple and complex. The most common are:

• Psychological stress or anxiety
• Following a physical (car accident, whiplash) or psychological shock,
• sleep apnea,
• Alcohol/tobacco consumption
• A neurological disorder
• Hormonal imbalance
• Excessive caffeine

Consequences of Bruxism

Teeth grinding must be treated immediately as it can damage your teeth and can lead to other health problems:

• Jaw pain
• Clicking sounds when opening the mouth or yawning
• Headaches, especially in the morning when waking up
• Neck pain, neck muscle tension, frequent and chronic torticollis
• The high frequency and chronicity of these disorders can ruin the quality of life of some people.

In the long term, these disorders can cause strong constraints on the jaw-the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). This can damage the disc between the mandible and the temporal bone and cause early osteoarthritis.

To prevent this from happening, many techniques, including using a custom-made night guard, have proven effective.

Bruxism can also be diagnosed during a dental check-up. Clues such as fractured enamel on a tooth or dental wear can also lead this professional to raise this issue.

Sometimes the joint is worn because the stresses exerted on it are strong. This can cause a clicking sound and bite disorder (malocclusion) when the jaw opens.

Very often, the diagnosis is late. This is why pain can settle for years without being cured in the long run. If it is not treated, all these reaction pains return permanently. Therefore, it is important to identify it quickly. From this moment, you can relieve all your pain and ask yourself how to stop clenching your teeth.

How to Stop Teeth Grinding?

Treating bruxism is not easy. Indeed, the causes are often multiple. However, the most common cause is stress. The ideal would be to reduce stress. Something that may sound very easy, but you need to work on it. Taking medications such as anxiolytics is not recommended to solve this problem alone.

Custom-made night guards to be worn before bed in the upper jaw are an effective solution to manage teeth grinding. These night teeth guards make it possible to inhibit the contraction of the masticators reflexively and prevent the teeth from wearing due to friction. Once provided by dentists only, you can now order custom dental guards online at a trusted dental lab and get your product at your doorstep, saving the dentist cost and at a much more affordable price.

Some people use relaxation techniques before sleeping to loosen the chewing muscles. Others, hypnosis. These methods are well indicated when there are associated nocturnal manifestations.

Indeed, dentists and osteopaths have good results with this pathology. They can recommend the best solutions to protect your teeth from wearing and can also work on the TMJ and the cervical region. But night teeth guards have become one of the most accessible, affordable, and effective solutions.

Besides visiting a dental clinic, you can try some simple exercises to manage your teeth-grinding habit.

Tips to Try to Manage Teeth Grinding

Behavioral Tips

As mentioned above, one of the main reasons for jaw clenching during the day is the stress people are subjected to daily, heavy workloads, problems, etc. Therefore, the first thing to try to minimize this issue is to try to reduce stress levels. Some tips to reduce stress levels include: 

• Reducing alcohol, caffeine, soft drinks, and tobacco consumption
• Meditating
• Avoiding biting chewing gum and nails
• Avoiding chewing hard objects, like pens and pencils
• Eating soft food
• Applying heat to sore areas
• Doing exercise and yoga
• Using orthodontic treatments to correct dental position

Exercises to Manage Teeth Grinding

 

Facial Relaxation

The pains are often accompanied by muscular tensions, which are not localized only on the temple but on the whole face. It is, therefore, important to become aware of these general tensions of the face to relax all of these muscles successfully and reduce jaw pain.

• Lie down in a quiet room, arms and legs relaxed, eyes closed
• Relax your whole body by breathing deeply
• Try to become aware of the tensions in the face
• Relax the forehead, then the eyelids, then the cheeks, the jaws, and finally the mouth
• Stay in this muscle-relaxing position by inhaling and exhaling deeply for 2 minutes.

It is an exercise you can repeat even during the day, at work, or sitting down. It requires a bit of concentration, but it will give you some relief.

Mouth Opening and Closing Exercise

The purpose of this exercise is to restore mobility to the TMJ. This does not move in its full amplitude when the chewing muscles are tense.

• Sitting in front of a mirror, back straight, head straight, face as relaxed as possible.
• You open your mouth slowly as much as possible, then close it slowly without forcing your teeth. Check in the mirror that the opening is symmetrical.
• Do this exercise 10 times in a row.

It may be due to asymmetrical muscle tension if you can't do this exercise symmetrically. The following exercises will help release these jaw muscle contractions to stop the permanent teeth grinding.

The meniscus may not be seated properly if you feel a grating on one side when opening. An appointment with an osteopath or a physiotherapist may be necessary.

Jaw Reduction Exercise

 

This exercise for the jaw also helps restore mobility to the TMJ by stretching some internal muscles.

• Sitting in front of a mirror, back straight, head straight, face as relaxed as possible.
• Relax your jaw as much as possible. Drop your lower jaw under its weight. Your mouth should be slightly open.
• Without moving your head, bring your chin to the right as far as possible, then to the left as far as possible.
• Do this exercise 10 times in a row.

Self-Massages of the Jaw Muscles

Like any tight muscle, massaging the jaw muscles can help relax them.

• In the same position as the previous exercise, again with your mouth barely open, place your index fingers 2 cm in front of the small cartilage of the ear (the tragus).
• By pressing with the pulp of your fingers, make small circular massages.

The support can be sensitive but should not be painful. The more the muscles are contracted, the more the support is likely to be painful.

Custom-Made Night Guards

A dental splint is the most effective solution besides the behavioral tips mentioned above. Offloading splints are custom-made night guards that prevent teeth grinding and protect TMJ.

These night teeth guards are usually made to measure and are intended to be used while the patient sleeps. They prevent the person from biting unconsciously and protect the teeth, repositioning the jaw in a more favorable position. However, for optimal results, patients must complement the use of these devices with the behavioral treatments and exercises mentioned above.

Get the Best Night Teeth Guards at Clear Custom Night Guards!

Do you want the best night guard to manage teeth grinding? Order one at Clear Custom Night Guards, a trusted dental lab offering high-quality custom-made teeth grinding guard to clients for over 10 years.

Order our dentist-recommended night guards online in three simple steps. Explore our product range and select the model that best fits your unique needs.

Call +1 (818) 857-2688 or visit the best online night guards platform for more information!