It’s normal for you to grind your teeth every now and then especially in the thick of emotions. However, when the grinding becomes excessive and even turns to gnashing, then this could be extremely problematic. In that case, you would then have a condition known as bruxism or teeth grinding.
Do you have teeth grinding?
This is a question which you’ve probably never thought to ask yourself and it’s quite difficult for you to know the answer to this question yourself because of the fact that grinding episodes happen when you are asleep. However, teeth grinding can also develop when you are awake especially if the condition has already escalated. There is no definitive cause of teeth grinding as of yet, although there are a number of known contributing factors for teeth grinding including stress, anxiety, stimulants and bad bites.
How do you know that you have teeth grinding?
As mentioned previously, the episodes of when you grind your teeth would usually happen throughout the night when you cannot censor yourself and observe what you are actively doing. On the other hand, there are a couple of signs and symptoms which are characteristic for teeth grinding and that includes headaches which develop just as soon as you wake up as well as jaw tenderness. If you sleep next to someone, it would also be wise for you to ask if he or she notices any noise that you create whenever you sleep which could indicate that you grind your teeth whenever you sleep.
How can you solve the problem of teeth grinding?
Solving teeth grinding requires understanding why you have the condition to begin with. This means that your dentist would have to assess the reason for why you have developed the condition in the first place. This can be a problem because solving the initial problem would mean that you would have to wait for a long time before the condition could be addressed. For instance, if the reason for why you developed teeth grinding is because of a bad bite, then you can opt to have orthodontic braces put on but it would take some time for your bruxism to improve. At the same time, if stress is behind the bruxism, then learning how to de-stress would require some time as well. On the other hand, wearing mouthguards will ensure that your teeth are protected the entire time you’re seeking treatment for your bruxism.
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