Not Naturally Healthy

There are some things you don’t know you do.  Maybe always making jokes about your in-laws is funny to you but not to your significant other.  Maybe people don’t always appreciate the fact that you mooch off their food all the time.  And maybe, just maybe, you grind your teeth.  Doesn’t sound like you? Half the time, people don’t even know that they’re grinding their teeth.  It’s called bruxism and if you wake up with your jaws aching or with a crazy headache, you might just be grinding teeth while asleep.  It’s no wonder that people want to prevent teeth grinding – it hurts.

So, what is grinding teeth while asleep?

Bruxism is when you clench your teeth together and then rub them against each other, effectively grinding them.  If the word grinding implores images of bones crunching together, that’s pretty much what you’re doing on a smaller level.  Like a lot of bad habits, grinding your teeth is largely unconscious.  If you’re suffering from it, it just happens naturally like breathing.

Although you can probably do it awake, there’s a greater likelihood of grinding teeth while asleep.  Since it doesn’t require your conscious decision to do so, you actually end up grinding your teeth with up to six times the force you would while awake.  Considering the amount of force you can exert with your jaws, you can easily imagine why your jaws hurt in the morning.

Now, some people might think that it’s not so bad.  So, why would people spend so much time trying to prevent teeth grinding?

The Effects of the Grind

Grinding teeth while asleep can lead to a whole lot of negative effects on a person.  The most obvious effect would be the soreness and the pain after a night of unconscious grinding.  These are the same muscles you use to eat after all.  The pain comes in a variety of ways, from general face pain to a strange ear pain.

Obviously, if you keep grinding something, it is going to get ground down.  Another effect of bruxism is cosmetic damage.  Your teeth could actually get shorter, ground and filed into a shadow of its former self.  This grinding can also cause increased sensitivity to cold, heat and other things that teeth can be subjected to, or even fractures.

This is probably enough to make people think of ways to prevent teeth grinding.

Prevention and Treatment

Well, the first move has always been to check with a professional and that’s what dentists do.  They can diagnose the issues you have with your teeth to make sure that you actually are grinding teeth while sleeping.  If it’s not that, then you may have another problem entirely.

The most common way to prevent teeth grinding is with the use of a mouth guard.  Usually custom-fitted, this is basically tooth armor as it takes all the grinding punishment while you sleep instead of your teeth and, thus, minimize whatever damage you’ll usually suffer.  They might give you some pointers on how to position your teeth and tongue to prevent teeth grinding.  Interestingly, a high alcohol intake can lead to greater bruxism.

Another somewhat vaguer explanation for bruxism is stress.  In times of anger or danger, some people end up grinding their teeth in response to the stimuli, perhaps as an aftereffect of the flight or fight response.  If you can distress or reduce the amount of stress you suffer from in your life, you could potentially treat your teeth grinding while improving your quality of life.

A more modern approach to the problem includes some very familiar poison – botox.  Botox can easily lessen the painful effects of bruxism, though it does carry some fairly dangerous side effects.  It is injected into what is called the masseter muscle in an effort to relax it to prevent many of the effects of grinding teeth while sleeping, such as the signature grinding and clenching, the soreness after a morning of grinding teeth while sleeping and the neck pain due to all that clenching.  Repeated more than once a year, the treatment itself varies from person to person as some people have stronger muscles than others.

If you’re too late to prevent the damage caused by bruxism, such as damaged crowns, there are also ways of handling it.  Prosthetic crowns are available in varying materials, depending on the expected usage.  All porcelain crowns in particular are becoming more and more common regardless of which place in the mouth they will be in.  A guard is usually included to protect the porcelain crowns while you sleep.

Working on the Grindstone

Bruxism can affect a lifestyle but it is easily handled if you take the time to get yourself checked and to follow the instructions given to you by your teeth care experts.  With some care, you’ll be able to prevent teeth grinding and wake up refreshed and happy.