Bruxism: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment

Bruxism is a health condition in which you grind or clench your teeth unconsciously. People can grind or clench their teeth any time of day. Clenching teeth during the day is defined as awake bruxism, and clenching teeth during the night is defined as sleep bruxism. People suffering from sleep bruxism have several other disorders as well. For example, snoring and pauses in breathing. The most surprising aspect of bruxism is, most people don’t know they clench their teeth until somebody tells them.

In this blog, we will discuss the causes, symptoms, and treatment for bruxism.

Causes

Stress and anxiety are the most common reasons for teeth clenching. More than half of the total bruxism patients have stress or anxiety. However, besides anxiety, there are many other reasons for bruxism, too.

Some are here.

Medications

Bruxism can be a side effect of many drugs such as psychotropic, antidepressants, and antipsychotics. Serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs is considered to be a major cause of bruxism.

Jaw Problems

If your top and bottom teeth don’t meet correctly, your jaws may have problems, and that can lead to teeth clenching. However, the good news is, the problem of teeth clenching disappears after you get treatment for your jaw.

Lifestyle

Your lifestyle can also be responsible for bruxism. If you consume alcohol, smoke, or take recreational drugs, then you may be suffering from bruxism.

Symptoms

There are many symptoms of bruxism. Here are some.

• Pain in your teeth.
• Feeling pain or sensation in your teeth while having hot, cold, or sweet foods.
• Jaw muscles appear tight while opening your mouth.
• Pain in jaws, neck, and face.
• Loose, flattened, fractured, or chipped teeth.
• Light headache in the temples.

Diagnosis

If your dentist suspects that you are suffering from bruxism, they may call you a for a few follow ups. The visits will allow the dentists to check the changes in your teeth and mouth and determine whether their suspicion is correct or not.  In every visit, your dentist will check for tenderness in your jaw muscles and dental abnormalities such as broken or missing teeth. While diagnosing your mouth, they can check whether you have any gum diseases or TMJ disorder.

Treatment

There are two ways to deal with bruxism.

Self-Treatment

As you have learnt above that the primary causes of bruxism are stress and anxiety, you should work on stress management. You should try to remain calm. Besides, as you know that a problem with your jaws can also be a reason, you should rub your jaw muscles with ice cubes and avoid eating hard foods.

Reduce your consumption of alcohol, tobacco, or recreational drugs. If you do, then surely, you will notice an improvement.

Medical Treatment

However, booking an appointment with your dentist is the best way to deal with bruxism. Your dentist is a specialized person who can identify the root cause of the problem and prescribe you the best treatment. They will fit you with a custom mouthguard based on your requirements to protect your teeth from further damages. If your mouth guard does not work, then the dentist will provide you with orthodontic treatment such as braces or surgeries.

Why Can’t You Ignore Bruxism Treatment?

Unattended, bruxism can create eating disorders. Your jaws and teeth will become more sensitive and cause more pain. Also, clenching can cause headaches, depression, insomnia, abnormal wear on teeth, and inflamed and receding gums.

For the quality treatment of bruxism, contact New Smile Dental in Surrey, a team of dental specialists committed to providing excellent dental treatments.