Clenching and grinding your teeth involuntarily? You may be stressing through your teeth

Stress is inevitable but a normal part of life.

Although what causes people stress might differ from person to person, the symptoms and risk are similar for everyone. One common indicator of stress is grinding your teeth, whether awake or asleep.

Clenching and grinding your teeth is a common involuntary reaction to anger, fear or stress. In some people, this reaction plays out repeatedly through the day, even if they aren’t responding to an immediate stressor. This involuntary teeth grinding is known as bruxism.

There is no single identifiable cause of bruxism, but there are many contributing factors.

According to the Sleep Foundation, sleep bruxism is teeth grinding that happens during sleep.

“Sleep bruxism and bruxism while awake are considered to be distinct conditions even though the physical action is similar. Of the two, awake bruxism is more common,” said the foundation.

“A key challenge with sleep bruxism is that it is much harder for people to be aware that they are grinding their teeth. In addition, a sleeping person doesn’t realise their bite strength, so they more tightly clench and grind their teeth.”

Bruxism is classified into two categories:

Primary (idiopathic) is when the disorder is not related to another medical condition. Secondary (iatrogenic) is when side effects of medications, neurological or developmental disorders are causing the behaviour

Bestmed Medical Scheme’s Corporate Services and Wellness shares more information on the difference between sleep and awake bruxism symptoms as well as treatment.

Sleep bruxism symptoms are:

• Pain in the face, neck and jaw.
• Stiffness in the jaw.
• Clicking or popping sounds when you move your jaw.
• Worn, broken and sensitive teeth and loose teeth or fillings

Awake bruxism

Awake bruxism differs from sleep bruxism, as awake bruxism isn’t a sleeping disorder but rather a subconscious habit. Just like sleep bruxism, awake bruxism is involuntary. In most cases it happens when a person is feeling stressed or is concentrating. With awake bruxism, instead of grinding your teeth you clench your teeth and tense the muscles around your jaw.

The contributing factors of primary bruxism are:

• Stress. This is one of the main causes of bruxism in adults.
• Smoking and caffeine and alcohol consumption.
• Growing teeth. Up to 40% of young children experience bruxism because of growing teeth.

Secondary causes of bruxism include:

• Mental health conditions – commonly anxiety and depression.
• Medication – bruxism is a side effect of some medications such as antidepressants and antipsychotics.
• Sleep apnoea – a condition that causes breathing to stop temporarily during sleep.
• Neurological conditions such as Huntington’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, cause movement during sleep and, as a result, can cause bruxism.

Treatment

Dentists recommend a mouth guard which is made of flexible rubber or plastic. It functions as a protective barrier that stops your teeth from getting damaged when you grind them.

An alternative that serves the same purpose is a mouth splint. It is made of harder plastic and helps to keep the jaw in a relaxed position.

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