Many people who grind their teeth at night (a condition called bruxism) don’t realize they do so until they start to notice damage to their teeth and other symptoms such as jaw pain, headache and earache.
If you wait too long to deal with bruxism, it can cause serious damage to your teeth and jaw. Watching out for the symptoms can help you catch it early and get treatment before it damages your smile.
Here are five signs that you have night-time teeth grinding.
Symptoms of Bruxism
1. You Wake Up With a Headache
Grinding and clenching your teeth during sleep causes muscle tension in your jaw, face and neck. This can cause a headache that’s usually most severe in the morning. The headache can also lead to poor sleep quality, causing you to feel tired and sleepy during the day.
Bruxism-related headaches can occur on both sides of the head (tension headache), as a headache that radiates from the neck to one side of the head (cervicogenic headache) or as migraines.
In many cases, a bruxism headache is accompanied by other aches in the jaw, neck and shoulders.
2. Your Jaw, Neck and Face Feel Sore or Painful
Muscle tension caused by bruxism can leave your jaw, neck and face feeling sore, tender and painful. You’ll notice the discomfort when you wake up in the morning.
Bruxism is also linked to temporomandibular joint or TMJ disorders. The TMJ is a hinge joint that connects the lower jaw to the skull. It allows the jaw to move up and down and sideways.
Pressure from grinding and clenching teeth can damage this joint, leading to inflammation and pain along the jaw.
In severe cases, bruxism can cause jaw misalignment, jaw locking (where you have trouble fully opening your mouth) and jaw popping.
3. Some of Your Teeth are Chipped, Flattened or Loose
The biggest damage of bruxism is to the teeth. All that grinding and clenching causes teeth to wear down and flatten. Teeth may also appear chipped, fractured or cracked. They can also get loose.
4. Your Teeth Feel More Sensitive
As you unknowingly grind your teeth at night, the top layer of the teeth (the enamel) gradually wears away.
This exposes the underlying layers and nerves, making your teeth more sensitive to temperature and touch. Drinking hot or cold beverages causes sensitivity and you may also feel discomfort when brushing teeth or eating sweet foods.
5. Earache
As bruxism affects the TMJ and the jaw, the pain can spread to your ears. This could be pain radiating from the jaw and other areas of the face. In that case, you will experience ear pain along with other aches.
In other cases, the ear pain occurs on its own. This happens when the pain originates from the TMJ, which is located close to the ear.
Other Ways to Check If You Have Bruxism
If you sleep with your partner, ask them to check on you during the night. Teeth grinding is often loud enough for someone else to hear, and can even wake up light sleepers.
If you sleep alone, there are sleep apps and trackers that can record sleep noises such as snoring, talking in your sleep and teeth grinding.
You can also get a sleep study done. A sleep study, or polysomnography, is commonly used to diagnose sleep disorders. You’ll go into a sleep center and sleep under observation by sensors and a specialist.
How is Bruxism Treated?
The most common immediate treatment for bruxism is a mouth guard, also called a night guard. It keeps your teeth from coming into direct contact.
A dentist can design a custom guard that comfortably fits in your mouth. You can also get an off the shelf mouth guard. These are usually cheaper but they may not be a perfect fit.
Long term treatment of bruxism involves dealing with the underlying cause and making lifestyle changes. Researchers are still not sure exactly what causes night time teeth grinding. So you’ll need to work with your doctor to find the possible cause.
Risk factors include:
Stress and anxiety
Smoking
Heavy alcohol consumption
Excessive caffeine intake
Sleep apnea
Your dentist will also examine your teeth for signs of damage and recommend restorative treatments.
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