Teeth grinding is sometimes extremely annoying both for the people who live with it and for the people who have this problem. The problem of teeth grinding, which can occur due to psychological or dental and jaw structure-related reasons, can lead to serious problems such as tooth wear or tooth loss.
What are the Causes of Teeth Grinding?
Teeth grinding is usually caused by teeth, but rarely it can also occur for neurological reasons. In addition to dental problems, psychological problems are also shown as causes of teeth grinding. The most common symptoms of teeth grinding are as follows.
- Having the wrong chewing habits,
- Disturbances in the way the teeth close, also due to lost teeth,
- Antidepressant drug use,
- A stressful lifestyle, excessive tension, anxiety and similar psychological problems,
- Filling or prosthetic applications are performed lower or higher than normal,
- Some lifestyle habits that can affect teeth grinding, such as sedentary lifestyle and wrong eating habits.
If these causes are eliminated, the symptoms of teeth grinding may not disappear, so a doctor's check-up is recommended for a permanent solution.
What are the Symptoms of Tooth Grinding?
Patients themselves often do not realize that they grind their teeth. It is usually noticed by the people they live with. The symptoms can occur both in sleep and in wakefulness. The prominent symptoms are the following:
- Sensitivity of the teeth and wear of the enamel,
- Jaw clenching,
- Teeth grinding severe enough to disturb people nearby,
- Headache that starts at the temples and radiates to the whole head,
- Jaw pain
- Loose or damaged teeth.
In addition to psychological treatments, teeth grinding can also be treated with treatment methods applied by dentists.
How to Treat External Grinding?
Protective night trays are the most commonly used method in the treatment of teeth grinding. These protective trays used during sleep prevent damage to the teeth. In other words, it is not a method that completely cures teeth grinding.
Medication or physical therapy can also be used for treatment. If the problem of teeth grinding is caused by various joint problems, various alternative treatment methods, including Botox, are used.
In cases with advanced disorders, the method of eliminating the problem definitively is surgery. The whole process should be planned by specialist physicians in order to protect both the jaw and bone structure and oral and dental health.
