The act of clenching or grinding teeth at night is known as
bruxism. Many people suffer from this condition at some point of their lives. The
severity of condition may vary according to individual circumstances.
Having that said, a few things that you need to know are as
under:
Symptoms that you are
clenching your teeth at night
Since there is no direct way of knowing if you are clenching
your teeth at night, you will need to look at the symptoms. It means that you
might not be able to know about this condition if you have just started
clenching your teeth at night. A sensation of fatigue and facial pain,
especially in the jaw area, may indicate that you are clenching your teeth at
night for prolonged period of time. Headache is another symptom of bruxism at
night. Bruxism also results in pain and sensitivity in teeth. Teeth grinding
can result in cracks or worn out enamel.
Reason for bruxism
Bruxism can happen due to both physical and emotional
stress. The physical factors mainly include overall health, fitness level,
nutrition, and sleep quality. On the other hand, emotional factors include
stresses related to finance, relationships and work.
What are the
treatment options?
Figuring out the real reason for stress is the first step
towards treatment of bruxism. However, there are some general relaxing methods
which need to be applied if you truly want to bring an end to the bruxism. For
instance, you can do a light yoga and have a cup of herbal tea before going to
bed. In some cases, placing a warm cloth over the jaw area can help you in
preventing bruxism at night.
You need to visit your dentist to see if bruxism has caused
any kind of damage to your teeth. After examining the level of damage, your
dentist may suggest you the use of night guard. Night guard is a device which
is made to specifically comfort the clenching teeth. In some cases, your
dentist may suggest you some jaw exercises which are specifically developed to soothe
the mouth and jaw ‘hinges’.
Teeth grinding in
children
Many people think that children do not have stress; and
hence it makes no sense for them to grind their teeth. The matter of fact is
that children can have high emotions. In reality, the children can have
stressful time more than the adults because they are usually not good at
managing emotions. Hence, they may start grinding their teeth. Although they
have primary teeth which are going to fall off in the future, teeth grinding
can result in a change in the jaw position, leading to several dental
conditions for the future. So, you need to take your children to the dentist
regularly to get their oral cavities examined.
