Teeth grinding and clenching are usually signs of stress as well as anxiety. A lot of people experience teeth grinding and clenching in their sleep. This is most likely caused when you have an incorrect bite or when you are missing some teeth. People who have crooked teeth may also experience teeth grinding and clenching in their sleep. Apart from these teeth grinding causes, no other causes are known.
Mostly, the teeth grinding and clenching occurs when a person is asleep. However, when you have been clenching teeth at night, you will almost always wake up in the morning with a hurting jaw. Sometimes, your partner or another family member sleeping with you or near you may find out about this habit because of the sound that the grinding of teeth creates.
Teeth grinding treatment is usually done by a dentist. The dentist will check your bite and examine your teeth for infection or crookedness. There are ways to correct your bite as well as your jaws. Curing the cause of bruxism usually is the best teeth grinding cure.
If you do not get the treatment for teeth grinding, chronic grinding may cause fracturing or loosening of the teeth. Your teeth may be worn down to stumps if you have been grinding and clenching them for long, without seeking treatment. Patients may need implants, partial dentures, or full dentures if they have caused their teeth to deteriorate because of bruxism.
Clenching teeth at night not only damages your teeth but may also hurt your jaws. Sometimes, if the case is very severe, the appearance of the mouth and the shape of the face of the patient may change.
The dentist usually begins by giving you a mouth guard to protect your teeth and keep you from clenching them when you are sleeping. The mouth guard can help you get used to leaving your teeth along at night. If it is stress that is causing you to do this, it is important to get rid of stress and anxiety as well.
answered by G M