What Should I Do to Stop Grinding My Teeth?
Grinding your teeth is more than just a bad habit. It can also take its toll on your oral health. The medical term for this condition is Bruxism. If left unchecked, it can lead to tooth fractures. Sometimes, you might even grind your teeth down to stumps and need to have them replaced by dentures. Over the long term, it might even change the structure of your jaw.
The good news is that there are a few techniques that you can use to control this unpleasant habit. Here are some that you can try.
Becoming Aware of Grinding Your Teeth
Often, grinding your teeth can become an unconscious habit. You might not even realize that you are doing it. Because of this, the first step should be noticing when you are grinding your teeth throughout the day.
There are a few potential reasons why you might be grinding your teeth, these include:
A build-up of stress or anxiety
Abnormal bite or incorrect tooth alignment
Sleep disruptions, like sleep apnea
Calming Yourself
During the day, it’s common to find yourself grinding your teeth as a response to stressful stimuli. The first step is to notice when there is tension in your jaw. Take a few minutes every few hours to check your jaw for tension.
If you are getting stressed, you might want to try a jaw massage. You might also want to turn to a quick meditation. If you are at home, you can have a relaxing bath or watch an episode of your favorite TV show.
Avoid Chewing on Non-Food Items
During the day, you might find yourself chewing on a pencil or a stick of gum. This will increase the amount of tension in your jaw. Because of this, you will be more likely to grind your teeth.
Wearing a Mouthguard
You might want to try using a mouth guard. You’ll need to use this at night when you could be grinding your teeth unconsciously. You will need to visit your local Hornsby dentist. They will be able to create a mouthguard that is specially designed for your teeth. This ensures that it will fit comfortably, so you won’t have any problems getting to sleep.
Tooth Alignment
Sometimes, the incorrect tooth alignment will be causing your grinding. There is no easy fix here. You’ll often need to talk to your dentist about tooth alignment. This can be a slow process. It might take a few months for you to start seeing results. But it will be worth it for a more beautiful smile.
Medical Treatments
Finally, you might want to consider a medical treatment to control tooth grinding. One of the most common approaches is Botox. This decreases activity in the muscles needed to grind your teeth. But this should only be considered as a last resort when the other options on this list have failed.
Conclusion
Learning to control tooth grinding can be tough. Often, this habit will be ingrained in us from a young age. If you are grinding your teeth in your sleep, you might not even be aware that you are doing it. However, it’s important to work to control this habit. If you can do this, you’ll be able to save yourself a lot of money over the long term.
