What are teeth clenching
Teeth clenching is scientifically known as bruxism. Some of the dentists call it the “nightly grind”. This problem is common among women. Many women have the habit of grinding their teeth during sleep unconsciously and only about 10% of such women are conscious that they are grinding their teeth. When individuals clench their teeth at night, they are applying hundreds of pounds of force to move their jaw.
What are the effects of teeth clenching
- Individuals who clench their teeth have the ability to exhibit jaw movements from up to down and from side to side. These excessive movements cause the grinding of teeth.
- When teeth have been ground down to a greater extent they become flat and look unpresentable and the youth smile power is lost.
- The grinding of teeth makes the front ones shrink and the back teeth start hitting each other.
- Gradually, the teeth get shorter and shorter and their chipping occurs.
- The ultimate stage of teeth clenching is the loosening of teeth followed by falling of teeth.
- Bruxism badly affects the temporomandibular joint TMJ. The grinding or clenching movements during the night take place at the expense of movements of the temporomandibular joint. The excessive use of the TM Joint leads to the wear and tear of its ligaments which become relaxed and then the surrounding area becomes highly inflamed. This inflammation can cause severe pain in the joint area. Because of this reason, it is widely called temporomandibular joint dysfunction.
- Pain in both ears called earache is another effect of teeth clenching or bruxism.
- Throbbing pain in the inner ear.
- Tinnitus or buzzing sounds in the ear are another characteristic effect of teeth clenching.
How do you come to know if you are involved in habit of teeth clenching
The easiest and quickest method to know if you clench your teeth at night is to feel for their contour by placing your thumb or finger in-between the teeth.
- Look for the ragged teeth borders
- Look if the margins are chipped
- Look if you find any sort of teeth fracture
- Inspect the overall appearance of teeth
- Observe the flattening of teeth also, this is the most important diagnostic symptom of teeth clenching.
What are the symptoms of teeth clenching
Teeth clenching is followed by a number of symptoms. Some of these commonly observed symptoms are given below:
- Headache after waking up in the morning.
- Slight neck pains
- Feeling ringing in the ears
- Difficulty in performing the jaw movements or sometimes a slight pain is felt when the affected person moves the jaw.
- Teeth feeling sore in the morning after wake up.
Why teeth clenching occurs
Teeth clenching is a habit opted by many people. In some people, it can be a result of major stress or tension of something. While in many other people it occurs because of the improper alignment of teeth in the oral cavity.
How to stop the teeth from clenching
There are a number of practices to follow by which one can get rid of teeth clenching. These practices are discussed one by one below:
- The affected individuals are advised to keep their teeth apart while having their lips close to each other. This is the best posture to get rid of bruxism because this position helps one to relax the jaws.
- Sometimes the patients are advised to keep their tongue between their upper and lower jaw so as to prevent the teeth from clenching during the daytime.
- If in any person, there is excessive chipping of teeth, the CT scan of the temporomandibular joint is necessary.
- Consultation with a dentist is necessarily required in patients with bruxism. The dentist will then treat the clenching depending upon the degree of damage to teeth and temporomandibular joint.
- A customized night guard with flat back surfaces is applied to cover the front teeth. This guard will prevent the teeth from clenching during the night.
- Maintaining a soft and light diet for some time is advised by the dentist.
- The patients are asked to apply the heat and cold pack to the jaws.
- In very severe cases of teeth clenching injections are given to weaken the ability of muscles to the cheek. But this action also halts the swallowing process to some extent. So, it is done only in patients with severe bruxism.
- A very controversial and unproven treatment of choice for bruxism or night grinding is the use of electronic devices called TENS devices. This device is applied to the facial muscles as a stimulant factor. But this treatment is not often applied because of the restrictions in its use.
- Several medications are applied which act as muscle relaxants, pain killers, and anti-inflammatory.
