Everything you need to know about teeth grinding

Everything you need to know about teeth grinding

We humans have strange habits. Strange eating habits, strange day to day habits. There is one more strange habit that many of us have – Grinding of teeth. Well yes pretty unusual it may sound but most of us have this very common habit. Medically this is called us Bruxism. This is not a harmful condition but if its done on a regular basis may damage teeth. Generally people grind their teeth while they are sleeping but there are two other reasons why grinding occurs – Stress and Anxiety. The stranger fact is that when people grind their teeth they do not know that they are doing it intentionally as it happens when they are sleeping and because of this it results in headache and a sore jaw.

Although teeth grinding is harmless but still if it is done regularly it can result in fracturing and/or loss of teeth. This is called as chronic grinding. You need to be really cautious if in case you feel that you suffer from Chronic Grinding because then there will be need of either Root Canal, Bridges, Crowns, Implants or complete dentures. It can not only result in tooth loss but it will also affect your jaws and the worst part – it may affect how your face looks like. Scary it is!!

Every problem has a solution. So there is a solution for bruxism as well. The moment you feel that you suffer from Teeth Grinding see your dentist immediately. He/She can fit a mouth guard which helps in preventing teeth from grinding. But in case of stress you have nothing to do but attend some stress relieving sessions or start off with some sort of exercises. You can use some muscle relaxants but try to avoid getting into medications in case of stress. There are certain foods as well which if avoided can help in reducing teeth grinding. So let me take you through these:

1. Any food that contain caffeine such as chocolate, cola and coffee

2. Alcohol is not good in any respect and it intensifies grinding even more

3. As kids or even as adults we have an intricate habit of chewing on anything which is not even food. We tend to chew on pencils, pens etc. but avoid doing that.

4. Before going off to sleep you can use a warm wash cloth on your face. This will relax your jaws.

As far as kids are concerned you will be surprised to know that nearly 15% to 35% kids grind their teeth and mostly during the time when their baby teeth are coming out or when their permanent teeth are developing. Why they grind their teeth? The reason can be same as that for adults (except alcohol drinking).

So try these simple hacks in your daily to avoid deformation of face and teeth. Maintain that beautiful smile always. Keep Smiling 🙂