Bruxism is the persistent grinding of teeth or clenching of teeth together. It can be a side to side sliding motion of the teeth or a circular motion. It causes a wearing down of the teeth and is a problem mainly associated with depression, anxiety or tension.
Causes of Bruxism:
Doctors don’t exactly understand why some people get Bruxism and others do not. There are generally psychiatric or psychological causes of bruxism, including tension, stress, anxiety, suppressed anger or an aggressive personality style.
If there is malocclusion, there can be grinding of the teeth. Problems with the sleep cycle can affect the possibility of bruxism.
In children, an earache or teething can lead to temporary bruxism. As the teeth grow and develop, there can be jaw clenching and grinding of the teeth.
Diseases like Huntington’s disease and Parkinson’s disease can cause bruxism. Sometimes, there can be a side effect of certain neuroleptic (psychiatric) medications, or antidepressants, which can cause the phenomenon of bruxism.
Symptoms of Bruxism:
The symptoms and signs of bruxism include the following:
- Worn, flat or broken teeth
- Noticeable sound of grinding of teeth or clenching of teeth
- Tooth sensitivity
- Tooth enamel that has worn down to the deeper tooth layers, such as dentin
- Jaw pain or tight feeling in your jaw muscles
- Sensitive teeth
- Earache due to contractions of the jaw muscles. It isn’t directly related to the ear.
- Facial pain
- Headache
- Chewing on the inside of the mouth in the cheek region
- Tongue indentation
Complications of Bruxism:
Bruxism doesn’t have to cause any complications whatsoever but, if the condition is severe, it can lead to tooth damage or damage to crowns or other restorations. Because the muscles are tightened more often than not, you can get tension headaches or pain in the face that doesn’t go away with sleep or rest.
The temporomandibular joint or TMJ can become affected by bruxism. When the temporomandibular joint is moved excessively as in bruxism, it can wear down the cartilage and bone in the TMJ so that there is chronic pain, headaches and the need for surgery in rare cases to correct or replace the temporomandibular joint.
Prevention:
People who have bruxism are often extra tense and use the bruxism to relieve the tension. Using anxiolytic therapy can improve the experience of bruxism. Other calming ideas like meditation and yoga can cause an internal relaxation that resists bruxism. Some people are naturally calm and don’t experience bruxism at all. For those that are not innately calm, prevention using the above remedies is recommended.
Treatment Options:
Treatment of bruxism is not usually necessary if it is in children as children often outgrow the problem. If a person has moderate to severe bruxism, he or she can focus on stress management using professional counseling, meditation, exercise and yoga. Relaxation can be achieved just talking about your fears and worries.
Dental approaches for treatment of bruxism usually mean a mouth guard (night guard) or a mouth splint. A mouth splint is an acrylic appliance that fits over the upper or lower teeth. Mouth guards are gotten by the pharmacist or by your dentist; you can get custom-made mouth guards that fit better than those that aren’t custom made.
Misaligned teeth should be corrected, if they are the core of the problem. Crowns or overlays may need to be used to reshape the chewing surface of the mouth. Doing that may help at least to ease the teeth destruction effects, if not entirely end bruxism.
Behavioral therapy can correct the bruxism. You basically use therapeutic techniques to keep the teeth from grinding together. Biofeedback often works in this situation.
Medications aren’t very helpful in bruxism but an anti-anxiety medication and a muscle relaxant can make a difference in certain cases. Bruxism can be caused by an antidepressant or neuroleptic and changing the medication can resolve the symptoms. Botox injections into facial muscles have been known to be effective in some people.