Teeth grinding is becoming ever more common in today’s society. Whilst it has many detrimental effects for your teeth, it can also be a tell-tale sign of further issues with your general health.
The common symptoms of teeth grinding are:
- Headaches on waking
- Tenderness of teeth
- Sore facial muscles
- Worn down teeth
There are steps that can be taken to figure out exactly why it is that you are grinding and what we can do to help you stop.
If you believe you are grinding your teeth, a consultation with one of our dentists can help to get you on the right path. During this consultation, an in-depth history regarding the symptoms will be taken, checking for any areas of pain, day to day stressors and quality of sleep. A proportion of people who grind their teeth will also experience TMD (temporo-mandibular dysfunction). This is a disorder that affects the TMJ (temporo-mandibular joint), surrounding muscles and the teeth themselves. Whether you have TMD or not, an individual diagnosis will be made, and the dentist can develop a multi-disciplinary management plan and work with you to help you stop grinding. The most common intervention to help patients stop teeth grinding or bruxism is the construction of a custom mouth guard which helps to protect the teeth from any further damage by acting as a barrier. If this is an issue for you and you are worried that your teeth are wearing down, book in for a consultation with one of our friendly dentists today.