Waking up with headache, sore teeth and jaw pain is a common
condition among many people. This may be due to the habit of grinding teeth at
night. This habit is also known as bruxism. Although stress and anxiety are
thought to be the common reasons for bruxism, another reason for it may be the
bad alignment of teeth.
What is bruxism?
Bruxism is basically a habit of grinding or clenching teeth
together. Although it can happen in the day time, it happens mostly during
night sleep. The disadvantage of this habit is that it can result in worn out,
fractured, and/or chipped teeth. The most obvious symptom of this habit is the
headache and jaw pain you may feel after waking up. Stress, anxiety, and bad
alignment of teeth are the main reasons for this condition. Now, this condition
can result in TMJ or TMD, also known as temporomandibular joint disorder. This
issue is mainly associated with the chewing muscles of the lower jaw.
How to deal with this
problem?
In most of the cases, dentists suggest the use of night
guard while sleeping. Night guard is a clear, hard, and acrylic guard which is
worn over the teeth in upper or lower jaw. After wearing this guard, your teeth
will not be able to grind with each other. The making of this guard is pretty
simple. Your dentist will take an impression of your teeth and send it to the
laboratory where a customized guard, for your teeth only, will be prepared. You
can also purchase over-the-counter night guard but these night guards are not
guaranteed to fit on the teeth. This unfitting can be uncomfortable. Here, you
can take advice from your professional dentist.
Since stress is one of the reasons for bruxism, it is very
important to get relaxed before you go to the bed. Most of the times, you don’t
need to consult a psychiatrist to get relaxed. You can do it at home. Take a
warm shower before going to bed and consider having cup of herbal tea. There
are certain relaxation techniques which you can apply to get relaxed.
Teeth grinding in
children
Many people think that children do not grind their teeth.
This is not quite right. Children have high emotions which can arise due to any
smaller trigger. They may have issues in school or playground. These issues can
lead to stressful thoughts and, ultimately, teeth grinding. Although there is
no big issue with the baby teeth as those teeth are going to be replaced by
adult ones, you don’t want your child to carry this habit to later stages of
life.
