Your smile reflects your delight, but it also may reveal your age — and not in a flattering way. Tooth stains and discoloration are side effects of getting older, but there are quick, comfortable, and safe ways to erase these smile inhibitors.
Teeth grinding, or bruxism, is a condition marked by compulsively grinding or gritting your teeth. Though teeth grinding usually occurs at night while you’re sleeping, you could also be grinding your teeth during the day without even realizing it.
What’s more, if you have bruxism, you could also have other sleep disorders, like snoring or sleep apnea. At Advanced Dental Care, our dentists are here to provide you with solutions and preventive measures for grinding your teeth so your smile can stay shining and healthy.
Teeth grinding is more than just a nuisance. It can actually cause permanent damage to your teeth, including:
As you can see, the effects of teeth grinding can be quite brutal to your smile, jaw, and facial muscles, so early detection and intervention are both incredibly important.
While the specific cause of teeth grinding is not fully understood, there are factors that increase your risk of grinding. These include:
Heightened anxiety, anger, and frustration are all contributing factors to increased teeth grinding and jaw clenching.
This sleep and breathing airway issue has been known to contribute to bruxism.
Though uncommon, teeth grinding, can be a side effect of certain psychiatric medications, like antidepressants.
Bruxism is more common in younger children, though it usually subsides by adulthood.
Teeth grinding has also been associated with other disorders, including medical and mental health problems. These include attention deficit disorder (ADD/ADHD), dementia, Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, and gastroesophageal reflux disorder (GERD).
Our dentists can discuss your treatment options during an appointment. Part of the discussion covers the contributing factors or root causes of your teeth grinding. With that information and after a full examination, our dentists may prescribe one or more of the following treatment options:
The most common device for treating bruxism is a mouthguard. Our dentists can fit you for one specifically for your mouth, unlike store-bought mouthguards, which are not as effective. You typically wear a mouthguard at night, but you can wear it during the day if daytime grinding is an issue for you.
If tension in your jaw is causing your teeth grinding, our dentists may prescribe a muscle relaxer to relax your jaw and prevent clenching.
Our dentists may use an injection to address jaw tension and alleviate some of the pain of bruxism.
At Advanced Dental Care, we are dedicated to maintaining and preserving your beautiful smile. Because teeth grinding is so damaging, you shouldn’t wait to seek treatment. Keep your smile stunning by scheduling an appointment on our website today or by calling our office.
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