{"id":786,"date":"2018-06-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-06-13T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/\/template2\/dental-care-blog\/grinding-bruxism-halt\/"},"modified":"2018-06-13T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-06-13T00:00:00","slug":"grinding-bruxism-halt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/dental-care-blog\/grinding-bruxism-halt\/","title":{"rendered":"Grinding Bruxism To A Halt"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1196\" src=\"http:\/\/contentlibrary.socialmediafordentistry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/450\/2018\/06\/bruxism_543.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"543\" height=\"543\" \/>  <strong>GRINDING OR CLENCHING YOUR<\/strong> teeth is a pretty normal thing to do when you\u2019re annoyed or stressed, and that\u2019s nothing to worry about. However, if you grind your teeth on a more regular basis, whether asleep or awake, it can become a serious problem. This kind of chronic teeth-grinding is known as bruxism. <\/p>\n<h3><strong>Why Does Bruxism Happen?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p> Sleep bruxism, also called nocturnal bruxism, is sometimes the <strong>side-effect of sleep apnea or snoring<\/strong>, while awake bruxism (diurnal bruxism) can be a <strong>side-effect of stress<\/strong>. However, not everyone with bruxism is dealing with a sleep disorder or stress, and everyone with a sleep disorder or a lot of stress in their lives will have bruxism. <strong>Improperly aligned teeth can also cause bruxism.<\/strong>  <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"543\" height=\"305\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/e1X3sTgQm9w?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe> <\/p>\n<h3><strong>Bruxism Symptoms<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p> Treatment for bruxism can sometimes be tricky because there isn\u2019t a single clear cause, so the focus tends to be on reducing symptoms and minimizing the damage. You might not be consciously aware of a teeth-grinding habit, but if you experience at least some of the following symptoms, it could be because of bruxism: <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Sore jaw<\/strong> (with sleep bruxism, your jaw will be most sore in the morning, whereas with awake bruxism, it\u2019ll be most sore in the evening)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Frequent headaches<\/strong> from the constant strain<\/li>\n<li><strong>Overdeveloped jaw muscles<\/strong> (because you\u2019re giving them a major workout!)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Shifting teeth<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Flattened chewing surfaces<\/strong> of teeth<\/li>\n<li><strong>Exposed dentin<\/strong> and increased tooth sensitivity<\/li>\n<li><strong>Chipped, cracked, or split teeth<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Tooth loss<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Bruxism Treatment<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p> There are a variety of treatments or approaches to either reduce the grinding or the damage it causes, depending on the type of bruxism you have. <\/p>\n<h4>Behavioral Therapy<\/h4>\n<p> You can become more aware of your clenching\/grinding habits with behavioral therapy or habit-reversal techniques and consciously work to stop. Because it\u2019s much harder to control what your jaw muscles do in your sleep, this option tends to work better for awake bruxism. <\/p>\n<h4>Relaxation<\/h4>\n<p> Relaxation techniques such as yoga, deep breathing exercises, massages, warm baths, calming music, and a full night\u2019s sleep can help you de-stress and stop grinding if your bruxism is stress-related. <\/p>\n<h4>Prescribed Medication<\/h4>\n<p> Medicine is rarely used to treat bruxism, especially if other treatments are helping, but muscle relaxant medication prescribed by your doctor might help you unclench while you sleep. <\/p>\n<h3><strong>We Can Help You Stop The Grind!<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p> Schedule an appointment with us if you\u2019re experiencing any of the above symptoms. It may be due to bruxism, and we can make a plan for how to address it. You don\u2019t want to leave it untreated until it gets to the point where it\u2019s damaging your teeth. <\/p>\n<h4>Help us help you keep your teeth healthy!<\/h4>\n<h6>Top image by Flickr user <span style=\"color: #2a7abd;\"><a style=\"color: #2a7abd;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/chadmiller\/222974484\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chad Miller<\/a><\/span> used under <span style=\"color: #2a7abd;\"><a style=\"color: #2a7abd;\" href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 4.0 license<\/a><\/span>. Image cropped and modified from original.<\/h6>\n<h6><span style=\"color: #d9d9d9;\">The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.<\/span><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong>GRINDING OR CLENCHING YOUR<\/strong> teeth is a pretty normal thing to do when you\u2019re annoyed or stressed, and that\u2019s&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":787,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[176,179,180,182,181],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-dental-posts","category-general-dental","category-ortho","category-pediatric","category-176","category-179","category-180","category-182","category-181","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=786"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}