Do You Grind Your Teeth?
Bruxism is a medical term used to describe a condition in which a person grinds, clinches, or gnashes their teeth. It often occurs involuntarily during sleep, known as sleep bruxism. But it can also happen while awake, known as awake bruxism. While occasional teeth grinding may not cause significant harm, chronic bruxism can lead to dental problems and discomfort including tooth wear, jaw pain, headache, and disturbed sleep.
Causes of grinding teeth
People grind their teeth for a variety of reasons. While anxiety and stress can lead to teeth grinding, these factors are less common than an abnormal bite, missing or misaligned teeth, or an aberrant bite while you are asleep. One of the causes of teeth grinding might potentially be a sleep disorder like sleep apnea.
The following are typical reasons for tooth grinding:
- Stressed and anxiety
- Unbalanced or errant bite
- Damaged, misaligned, or missing teeth
- Issues with sleep, including sleep apnea and insomnia
- Medications such as antidepressants and antipsychotics
- Diseases of the nervous system, such as Parkinson’s and Huntington’s
- Excessive consumption of caffeine, alcohol, and smoking
Symptoms of teeth grinding
In some circumstances, the only way to tell if you grind your teeth at night is to look for bruxism symptoms. Keep an eye out for these indicators:
- Chronic dull headache
- Jaw pain or stiffness
- You create a grinding noise when you sleep, which others can hear
- Significant tooth wear
- Teeth sensitivity
- Earaches
- Disturbed sleep
- Facial pain
- Gum recession
- Indentation on the tongue