DO YOU SUFFER FROM GRINDING YOUR TEETH?

Have you ever been in the room with someone that grinds their teeth? It’s quite a sound. For all those who haven’t heard it, look it up. It sounds something like large rocks falling over each other very slowly. Some people find it hard to sleep with someone that grinds their teeth is in the room, but compare losing sleep to permanently damaging your teeth. You could say that that tooth-grinding person is in far worse shape than you.

Teeth grinding has a medical name: Bruxism. It also includes teeth clenching during the day, and it really only has one cause: Stress .

Why is teeth grinding bad?

Well for one: grinding anything inherently wears it down. That is of course the purpose of grinding. A grindstone for instance takes off material a little bit at a time to, say sharpen something. The same thing happens with your teeth. Your enamel is very resilient, but some things like sugar and acids are known to wear down enamel eventually. Teeth grinding does it even faster. If left unchecked, teeth grinding could lead to worn out enamel, chipped teeth, and jaw aches, none of which is any fun.

Why do people grind their teeth?

Teeth grinding/clenching is becoming more common today because of increased levels of stress and tension that people are experiencing daily. During the day, someone who has a tendency to get stressed and clench their teeth during the day, could take that habit into bed with them, making them susceptible to worn enamel, and chipped teeth!

Nightguards

Luckily there are safeguards for such problems. They’re called nightguards, and they don’t keep museums and malls safe after closing; they’re there for your teeth! Night guards look a bit like those clear retainers that people wear instead of braces. They are flexible and are conformed to your mouth so that you can stay comfortable all night. They are created in a way that is totally painless, but they could save you tons of physical and monetary pain.

The biggest tip to keep teeth grinding away? Relax! Stress is part of life, and it might be impossible to totally delete the parts of it that make it hard, but find a way to calm down. Try reading, working out, or taking a warm bath. With so much emphasis on work and competition, people don’t find room to calm down. More than just your jaw could suffer as a result!

But, if you have already developed some Bruxism of your own, do not hesitate! Call usright away so we can address it! Remember, the longer you wait, the more we might need to repair!