The Terrible Effects Of Grinding Your Teeth
It can be a nervous habit, it can happen in your sleep but for sure grinding your teeth is not good. Not only can the sound be just as annoying to your partner as snoring but it is concerning on health levels for many parts of your body.
Grinding Your Teeth Affects Your Head
Grinding your teeth and clenching your jaw almost certainly will cause tightness in your head, neck and jaw joint. This often leads to headaches that can easily escalate to migraines. If you have ever had severe headaches you are aware of how debilitating they can be. Migraines specifically can cause nausea and vision problems that will possibly leave you in a state unable to work as you normally would.
At Community Dental Group we see patients all the time that show signs of teeth grinding and clenching who may have never know it was happening. Meaning they have been trying to treat and alleviate the pain it may be causing in the muscles in their heads without ever considering that it could be caused by some unconscious grinding and clenching of the teeth. If you are having migraines, consider visiting us in Newbury Park to consult with the dentist about if a mouthguard may help relieve some of that tension in the night.
Grinding Your Teeth Affects Your Teeth
You can feel it when you do it on accident or when you wake up with a sore jaw bone but grinding your teeth is very bad for your teeth. Some patients think it is interesting that we can tell if they have been grinding their teeth or not just based on a standard oral exam but because of the repercussions of the teeth grinding we can tell exactly what is happening.
When a patient has been grinding their teeth, it is very apparent by the tops of the teeth if they have been doing this. The teeth become flattened, chipped, fractured or loose after there has been excessive grinding. This put patients in great harm for dental issues. This can wear down the enamel on the teeth as well as increase the tooth sensitivity. If it is apparent this is what’s happening we may recommend a mouth guard for you to try at night. You can have them custom made or you can buy them at the store, although the custom made tend to be more comfortable and easier to sleep it.
A mouth guard will greatly decrease the pressure you are putting on your jaw and release the tension in those muscles while you are sleeping. This will relieve the headaches and prevent further damage to the actual teeth from grinding together.