You grind your teeth every time you feel angry, stressed or anxious. Your nighttime teeth clenching has started to disrupt the bedroom peace too. Are these situations upsetting you? Stop fretting – as you have landed at the best site on the internet dealing with teeth clenching!

A hearty welcome to all victims of bruxism, the medical name for teeth clenching! TeethClenching.org is one of the most informative and authoritative sites dealing with this common ailment that affect close to 50% of all adults and nearly 10% of all children.

TeethClenching.org covers most of the topics that are of common interest to anyone suffering from this nighttime or daytime problem. Ranging from what bruxism is all about, why it happens, the likely symptoms and most importantly, how to stop grinding teeth – this site gives you authentic and easy-to-comprehend information about all these issues.

Happy navigating!

What is bruxism?

Bruxism is a Greek word, which when translated means ‘teeth gnashing’.  It is an involuntary activity where the two sets of teeth grind against each other creating a low grating noise. The activity has no purpose and happens without the victim knowing anything about it. It may happen during day time but nighttime teeth clenching is rather common. It is then called sleep bruxism.

Teeth grinding result in the exertion of immense pressure by one set of teeth on the other. In fact, the pressure is almost 14 times of what is used during chewing. This causes immense pain and discomfort of the jaws and facial muscles, not to mention the damage that it does, to the teeth and gum.

For more information go to: What is Bruxism?

Bruxism causes: why do people grind their teeth?

The exact reasons why so many adults and children grind their teeth is not very clear. But doctors and researchers have found some correlation between teeth grinding and several psychological factors and medical conditions

Psychologists attribute teeth grinding to:

• Suppressed feelings of anger, stress and frustrations
• Aggressive and over-competitive adults are more prone

Teeth grinding could also be fallout of some existing medical conditions like obstructive sleep apnea and snoring. Some sleep disorders like sleep talking and consumption of  certain psychoactive substances like caffeine and cocaine may also cause teeth clenching at night.

Bruxism causes: why does it affect children?

A vast population of children suffers from teeth clenching causing immense worry to their parents. However, teeth grinding is a very natural part of growing up and children normally grow out of this habit with age.

Incidentally stressed out children could grind their teeth at night. Worrying over exams at school, etc are issues children get tensed about. The ailment could also be linked to a relief mechanism from pain from teething or earache. They grind their teeth to get relief from pain!

Read more about the topic in: Bruxism Causes

Bruxism symptoms: know them to cope better

Teeth grinding can be a mild condition that goes unnoticed but it can also reach dangerous levels that require immediate medical attention. This means that bruxism symptoms would also vary according to the seriousness of the condition.

Some bruxism symptoms that demand medical attention include:

• Tooth decay including brittleness of teeth, chipping, and fractures.
• Facial pain including jaw ache
• Head ache
• Loosening of teeth
• Damaged gum
• Increased tooth sensitivity
• Sore and tired facial muscles
• Locking and popping of jaw
• Severe earache
• And more…

Read more about it in: Bruxism symptoms

How to stop grinding teeth? Go by judging the severity of the condition

It is important to appreciate the basic fallout of bruxism – excruciating pain of the jaws and face including headache and earache. Of course, it all depends on the severity of the condition. Therefore majority of medications recommended to treat teeth clenching would invariably deal with pain management.

OTC pain killers, tricyclic antidepressants like amitriptyline or nortriptyline, muscle relaxants, corticosteroid injections and botulinum injections are some of the typical pain relieving medicines that are prescribed by doctors and dentists.

Use of teeth clenching devices like mouth guards is perhaps the easiest and most effective way to stop teeth clenching, especially at night. these devices are similar to the ones worn by sports people to prevent mouth injury during a game but often used by sufferers of bruxism as well. There are several types of mouth guards available in the market, about which you can get more information elsewhere in this site.

Since stress and other deep-rooted psychological factors are majorly responsible for causing teeth clenching, it is a far better idea to cure the condition getting down at the roots. Better mind management through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) yoga, deep breathing, etc , can help you manage stress better and also get cured of bruxism once and for all.

Read more about it in: How to Stop Grinding Teeth

Night mouth guards: the best option to stop teeth grinding

Bruxism is not just another faulty mannerism that one has to learn to live with. If you leave do not control teeth clenching, it can result in pain, damaged teeth and other complications. Therefore, you need to master a way by which you can prevent the condition from damaging your quality of life. While better stress management and superior mind control is the best way to control the symptoms of bruxism at its roots, night mouth guards offer double protection against nighttime teeth grinding.

Essentially, night mouth guards safeguard your teeth from gnashing against each other during sleep. They are fitted inside the mouth and do not allow one set of teeth to contact the other set at night,

There are three basic types of night mouth guards: standard ones; heat and mold types that have to be put inside boiling water and then pressed against the teeth with fingers and tongue; and finally the custom-built mouth guards that are exclusively made for you by your dentist according to the contours of your mouth.

This site gives you valuable tips regarding what to look for and how to choose the best and most suitable night guard for your use.

Read more about it in: Night mouth guards