The Daily Grind: How Grinding Your Teeth Can Cause Permanent Damage

Most people probably grind and clench their teeth from time to time, most commonly at night while sleeping. Teeth grinding, medically referred to as bruxism, is not usually harmful but when teeth grinding occurs on a regular basis, the teeth can be damaged and other oral health complications can arise.

Since grinding often occurs during sleep, you may be unaware you even grind your teeth. Here are some warning signs of teeth grinding:

• Dull, constant headache
• Sore jaw
• Loved one hearing you at night
• Stress
• Worn-down teeth

While it may not seem teeth grinding is doing much to your mouth, chronic grinding can have lasting effects including fracturing, loosening, or loss of teeth and in extremes cases can affect your jaw, result in hearing loss, cause TMD/TMJ disorder (a disorder of the jaw, jaw joint and surrounding facial muscles that control chewing and moving the jaw), and even change the appearance of your face.

To stop grinding your teeth, West Bloomington’s Krengel Dental can fit you with a mouth guard to protect your teeth from grinding during sleep.  There are different types of mouth guards that we can custom fit just for you! Some other tips to help you might be attending a stress counseling class, obtaining a prescription for muscle relaxants, cutting back on foods and drinks that contain high amounts of caffeine, and relaxing your jaw muscles at night by holding a warm washcloth against your cheek. Dr. Krengel can prescribe muscle relaxants and in some cases, we can use Botox to reduce the muscle tone of the muscles used in clenching to decrease pain and damage to the teeth!

Unsure if you’re grinding your teeth? Visit Krengel Dental for a consultation!