How to Stop Clenching Teeth to Protect Your Smile

  1. Home
  2. Dental Articles
  3. Porcelain Veneers Articles
  4. How to Stop Clenching Teeth to Protect Your Smile

How to Stop Clenching Teeth to Protect Your Smile

  1. Home
  2. Dental Articles
  3. Porcelain Veneers Articles
  4. How to Stop Clenching Teeth to Protect Your Smile
Do you wake up with headaches, neck pain or sore teeth? You could have bruxism and be unconsciously clenching teeth while you sleep. Paul R. Johnson, DDS, explains this common women’s health problem, how to recognize it and how to stop teeth grinding for good…

If you’re like more than 50% of women, you probably have a nighttime habit you may not even know about: gnashing, grinding or clenching teeth while you sleep. And for about 10% of you, this could be causing serious problems. It’s a condition known as bruxism. We, dentists, refer to it as “the nightly grind.”

Here’s how to tell if you’re doing it: Take your thumb or finger and feel along the edges of your upper and lower front teeth and answer these questions.

  • Do they feel ragged?
  • Any little chips along the edges?
  • Any fractures?
  • Now, go to the bathroom mirror and really look at them.
  • Are they flat or worn down?
  • Are there sharp ends?
  • Do you ever have a slight morning headache or neck ache?
  • Do your teeth feel sore in the morning?
  • Have ringing in your ears?
  • How about an ache in your jaw, at the point where you open and close your mouth, on one or both sides

That’s your temporomandibular joint (TMJ), which allows your jaw (known as the mandible) to hinge up and down. It can be pretty sore after a night of grinding and clenching teeth. In my experience, few patients are aware that they’re teeth clenching at night. They’re usually surprised when I demonstrate the destructive results to them, using a large patient’s mirror.

 

What causes bruxism – and, more important, how can you stop the damage? Read on to find out

 

 

A Hard Grind
When you grind your teeth while you sleep, you’re putting an incredible amount of force on them – the equivalent of hundreds of pounds, and many times more than you would tolerate if you were doing it during daylight hours.
The damage it causes can range from minor to severe. Some people just clench teeth at night, but they’re still likely to move the jaw slightly from side to side or front to back – and end up wearing those teeth down.

As the teeth grind down and become flat, they can begin to look unsightly. The back teeth may start hitting each other as the front ones shrink. Teeth get shorter, chip easily, become loose – and a once-beautiful, youthful smile could be lost. That jaw joint really takes a beating with bruxism too. Ligaments in and around the TMJ can be damaged as the surrounding area becomes inflamed. The result is pain – sometimes acute.

You can even get earaches from the tremendous pressure placed upon this delicate area. The inner ear is separated from the TMJ by mere millimeters – so if the area is inflamed and sore, the inner ear can become painful too. In fact, some dentists and ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialists believe teeth clenching may cause tinnitus, or ringing in the ears. In rare cases, bruxism can cause severe damage to the entire TMJ apparatus. Dentists call this temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMD).

A Mysterious Condition
So why do people grind their teeth at night? The short answer is “nobody knows.” Some noteworthy dentists have suggested a variety of possible reasons for teeth clenching: improperly aligned teeth, major stress or just a habit formed over many years. On some level, there must be something satisfying about it.

Dentists who specialize in treating children (called pedodontists) have reported that a majority of kids under the age of 6 grind their front baby teeth. (And it seems unlikely that most 5-year-olds suffer from stress, doesn’t it? Maybe some adults simply retained this habit from their youth?

Whatever the reason, if you’re grinding your teeth, you need help to stop doing it.

 

How to Break the Bruxing Habit

Before doing anything else, you should learn a simple technique: “Lips together and teeth apart.” This is the optimal posture for keeping your jaw relaxed. When your mouth is closed, your upper and lower teeth should be apart, with your tongue slightly forward between them. This will prevent you from clenching teeth during the day – and, with luck, will ease the habit while you’re asleep as well. Everyone should know and use this technique, whether or not they grind their teeth.

But you’ll still need professional help. There are differing schools of thought on bruxism treatments, so be careful in choosing someone to help you.

Start by talking to your dentist. Ask first about their training or expertise with bruxism treatments. (If you know you’re clenching teeth, yet your dentist or hygienist has never brought it to your attention, maybe they’re not the right people to handle it.) If you’re satisfied, make an appointment for a consultation. If not, call a local periodontist (gum disease specialist) or ask friends and neighbors to recommend one. The treatment should be appropriate for your level of symptoms.

 

Most Common Bruxism Treatments

Here are a few bruxism treatments your dentist will probably recommend a custom-fitted dental night guard, a hard, plastic appliance that fits over the upper teeth. It usually has a flat, smooth surface in the back so that there are no “play areas” to grind on – all your teeth should hit it evenly.

Less frequently, the dentist may suggest a type of mouth guard that only allows the front teeth to come together, with back teeth remaining separate – or, in severe cases, dual appliances for both upper and lower teeth. Your dentist will make impressions of your teeth, but the dental night guard itself is usually made in a laboratory. It should fit comfortably, and will last 2-4 years. The appliance will keep you from wearing down teeth.

But will it stop you from clenching and grinding (on the plastic surface)? Probably. A properly made dental night guard actually reprograms muscles and nerve pathways. Don’t bother with cheap appliances you can buy at a drugstore or online – they aren’t as effective.

If you have acute symptoms, a soft diet may be recommended for a period of time. The dentist may also suggest applying a cold or heat pack to the jaw. Some dentists may want to use an electrical stimulus machine on your facial muscles, called a TENS device – but this is unproven and highly controversial.

In severe cases, some patients have had Cosmetic Injectable injected into the “chewing” muscles to weaken their ability to clench. But this is expensive and has to be repeated every six months or so – and there’s little scientific evidence supporting it.

Sometimes, medications are prescribed: muscle relaxants, pain relievers, anti-inflammatories or sleeping pills. Some dentists also may want to even out your bite by reshaping the tooth enamel, which can be very tricky. They had better be very well trained. This should be done, if agreed upon by all, before the dental night guard is made. Your dentist may make models of your teeth to study, or send you for a consultation with an orthodontist.

As a last resort, they may suggest major dental work to even out the stresses on your bite. This may include crowns in the back, and/or caps (porcelain crowns or veneers, which only cover the visible half of the tooth) in the front to re-establish your proper smile. Before committing to this expensive, permanent treatment – which requires shaving teeth down – you can usually test out “fake” work beforehand, using plastic to lengthen your front teeth.

  • And last, but still important, you should learn these lifestyle habits:
  • Eat a nutritious, low-calorie diet
  • Engage in regular sports and aerobic exercise
  • Maintain low consumption of alcohol
  • Don’t smoke
  • Avoid recreational drugs
  • Have loving friends, and give to others on a regular basis
  • Get plenty of good sleep

These habits can help you stay relaxed, which may improve your teeth clenching – and also help you live a long, healthy life.

Read the original article here.

DISCLAIMER:

The content has been made available for informational and educational purposes only. Melton Dental House does not make any representation or warranties with respect to the accuracy, applicability, fitness, or completeness of the content.

The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional personal diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your dentist or another qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a dental or medical condition. Never disregard professional advice or delay seeking it because of something you have read or seen on the Site.

Services Mentioned

More Dental Articles

Overshot & Undershot: The Shared Jaw Flaws Of Dogs & Humans

Overshot & Undershot: The Shared Jaw Flaws Of Dogs & Humans

“It is not overstating things to say that dogs are people, and we are our dogs.” - Dr Greger Larson, Professor of Evolutionary Genomics, University of Oxford What is it that we share with them? Science and archaeology tell us it’s a cultural and evolutionary history...

read more
Dentistry’s Fresh Plan: CRISPR Programmable Proteins

Dentistry’s Fresh Plan: CRISPR Programmable Proteins

Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, the oredr of ltteers in a wrod ins’t iprmoetnt; waht mttaers is taht the frist and lsat ltteers are in the rghit pclae. The rset can dno’t mtetar - you can sitll raed tehm wouthit iusse. Tihs is bcuseae the barin...

read more
How Ethical Is The Permanent Medical And Dental Divide?

How Ethical Is The Permanent Medical And Dental Divide?

Undoubtedly, that this divide even exists is in itself less than principled. That it’s never been shown to be nothing short of permanent surely brings questions of morality to this unstable ethics table. Despite the conflation, ethics and morality are two different...

read more

Great dental practice! Fong is a very experienced dentist acquiring all my dental needs and the nurse Emily helped my dentist experience a comfortable one. Highly recommend them.

Michael D.

Ready to get started?

Just fill in this form and we will be in touch

"*" indicates required fields

Patient Status*

Preferred Contact Method:

Preferred Contact Method:

Treatment:

Treatment*

Preferred Date:

DD slash MM slash YYYY

Preferred Time:

Preferred Time*
:

Great dental practice! Fong is a very experienced dentist acquiring all my dental needs and the nurse Emily helped my dentist experience a comfortable one. Highly recommend them.

Michael D.

After hearing numerous excellent reports about this clinic, I decided to visit myself. I must say that it was a fantastic experience, even better than I expected! The clinic is bright and modern, the receptionists and nurses are friendly and help to put you at ease. The dentist is gentle, knowledgeable and explains everything so thoroughly!

I highly recommend this clinic!
 

Rebecca S.

Practice Manager Rachel - Melton Dental House

Hi, you're chatting with Rachel. If you could please fill out all your details below, I will be in contact with you shortly.

Patient Status(Required)
Preferred Contact Method:
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Dental House Webinar

Achieving the Smile You Love Webinar

Thinking of upgrading your smile but not sure what to expect? Watch this webinar as Dr Antonoff takes you through 3 patients’ smiles he transformed right here in Melbourne.

Dental House Price List

Download Price List

Please enter your mobile number and email address so we can send you the price list via SMS and email along with some of our patients’ smile transformations in the next few minutes.

Get Free Price List

Please enter your details so we can sms and email you the price list in the next few minutes.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Achieving the Smile You Love Webinar

Thinking of upgrading your smile but not sure what to expect? Watch this webinar as Dr Antonoff takes you through 3 patients’ smiles he transformed right here in Melbourne

You have Successfully Subscribed!