Teeth grinding, otherwise known as sleep bruxism, is a condition that you may not know you have.
Like most sleep conditions, you have to rely on others witnessing unusual behavior to determine if there is a medical issue. However, many aren’t aware that with teeth grinding, other tell-tale signs are damaging your teeth and jaw without realizing.
Four tell-tale signs you need a night guard for teeth grinding are listed below.
1. Morning Headaches
It’s too easy to dismiss morning headaches as being an alternative issue. Especially if you lead a stressful lifestyle, but it’s common for the two to interlink. Teeth grinding causes headaches by jaw clenching.
Headaches, of course, can be caused by too much caffeine or withdrawals. But you’ll likely find long-term that this still causes headaches. Even if you become less stressed, old habits might remain, and the clenching doesn’t go away. Night guards are a long-term solution for preventing further damage.
2. Sore Jaws
Sore jaws as a symptom are the easiest to spot yourself since the reasons for its persistence are restricted to only a few causes. As well as sleep bruxism, jaw clenching causes Temporomandibular Joint Disorder, an inflammation of the jaw.
Treatment for TJD beyond night guards don’t include medication, so it’s essential to assess your lifestyle to see what changes to make. Examples include learning to meditate, relaxation techniques, or psychotherapy for any pre-existing trauma or neurological disorders.
3. Grinding Chipped Teeth
In children, this symptom gets spotted much earlier. The parents typically spot these ailments while putting their children to bed. Therefore it’s easy to book in immediately and prevent issues in the future, especially when adult teeth appear.
Many dentists, such as Bardill Dental, offer night guards for all ages and sizes to complement other treatments at the practice, so it’s worth checking your local dentistry to see what they can offer.
However, it causes permanent damage in adults that may not be as obvious as first, especially if the clenching has recently developed by stress. Therefore, any issues with teeth require immediate attention.
4. Symptoms Coincide With Diet or Medication Changes
If you’ve recently changed your diet in any way for better or worse, or you’ve started taking specific medication such as antidepressants, these may be causing your teeth to grind in the night.
A dental night guard for clenching teeth will ensure that you don’t have to change your medication if it works in every other way since that could potentially be more damaging to your health than preventing the grinding by using a night guard.
Prevent Bruxism With a Night Guard for Teeth
It isn’t just teeth grinding those night guards are useful for. People with Sleep Apnea have reported that the right night guard for teeth can also help breathe easily, as it reshapes the throat muscles reducing any night-time obstructions.
And even if you have healthy, happy teeth. It’s always a good idea to protect them for the future. Prevention allows treatment before the issue arises so that you can sleep confidently. You won’t be doing damage to your body.
For more helpful advice and pointers, keep clicking and reading to see what else you can find!
