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How to stop teeth clenching and grinding….

At Time Dental we’ve noticed that many of our patients grind or clench their teeth. Teeth clenching and grinding can destroy your teeth. Have a look at the pictures above. Notice how the teeth edges are uneven in shape. These are moderate grinding cases and the only way we could treat this was to protect the remaining teeth by crowning them.

This situation could have been prevented. When you clench or grind your teeth you may not even be aware that you do it. The signs to look out for are jaw ache or headaches at night or first thing in the morning; ridges on the inside of your cheeks; scalloped sides of your tongue; Migraines; chipped, worn or broken teeth; a strong jaw line muscle.

There are a number of reasons why people clench or grind the teeth. One reason is a neuromuscular reason which is when your brain just tells your jaw muscles to clench; another reason could be a bad bite which triggers muscle tension; a stressful lifestyle can result in clenching; neck, shoulder or back ache can also result in teeth clenching or grinding.

So how can you stop teeth clenching? Well, we’ve found two ways to help reduce the clenching problem. One is to wear a bite guard. This is worn at night and works in about 85% of patients. It helps to deprogram the muscles and effectively reduces the muscle tension of the jaws. This is a great solution for those who are night time grinders. Although the bite guard works very well it is not always tolerated in the mouth.

An alternative solution would be to use Botulinum treatment. These are the same injections used to treat frown lines and crows feet. Instead, they are injected into the strong jawline muscle on either side of the jaw. The effect takes about 2 weeks to work and can last 3-6 months. The benefit for this type of treatment is that it will be working all the time, day and night. It doesn’t affect your facial expressions and you are still able to eat and function normally. It just reduces the destructive bite force that you place on your teeth.

If you want to find out more, why not call us on 01252 723 008 to see how we can help you.

Time Dental- Private dental care at its best.