Are you grinding your teeth?
Life is stressful. We deal with stress in
different ways but a common habit that forms is grinding our teeth, most
commonly at night. Therefore, a lot of people are unaware that they are doing
it. If you continue to grind our teeth either during the day or at night you
may find that your dentist will have a thing or two to say.
Tooth to tooth grinding will lead to tooth
wear and sometimes fracturing and cracking of teeth. It also overworks the
muscles in the head, face and neck and can lead to headaches. It will also
overwork your jaw and the muscles and ligaments associated. This can lead to a
sore jaw, clicking jaw or even lock jaw. Sometimes it can extend to stiffness
in the shoulders and upper back. These problems can be resolved but it is far
more effective getting treatment sooner rather than later.
You need to be fully assessed by your
dentist but the most common way this can be treated is by having a custom made
mouthguard fitted. This is known as a splint and is worn during the night. It
may feel odd in the beginning but it will protect the teeth and stop them
getting worn, relax the muscles involved in the grinding and rebalance the jaw
joint, known as the TMJ. Basically it’s physiotherapy for the jaw.
If you don’t take action then your teeth
will continue to wear down and break and your jaw will continue to get worse.
This will leave you with much greater treatment needed and a larger dental
bill. So if you grind your teeth, ask your dentist and act know, before it gets
worse.
David Hurst BDS (Lon)
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