Gnashing of teeth or bruxism is normal, but only if it does not occur often so knowing bruxism symptoms can help you control it People grind or clench their teeth when they are under stress or anxiety. However, if gnashing of teeth becomes a habit, it can be bruxism.
Bruxism is a medical condition characterized by forceful contact of the upper and lower teeth and jaw contraction. Teeth grinding may be negligible especially when it occurs during the day, but it can be alarming if it is habitually happening at night.
Bruxism symptoms can help you identify whether you are suffering from a primary or secondary type of bruxism. The former is the type that is not attributed to any known or existing medical condition. On the other hand, if teeth grinding is due to an existing medical disorder it is termed as secondary bruxism. Prescribed drugs to treat any known illness such as Parkinson’s disease can contribute to the latter type. In addition,gnashing of teeth and jaw clenching that occur while sleeping is called sleep bruxism while awake bruxism occurs unnoticeable during waking hours.
Because teeth grinding occur during sleep, studies show that only 5% of bruxers or people suffering from bruxism are aware of bruxism symptoms.
It is very important to know the symptoms of gnashing of teeth to avoid further damage and reduce jaw problem. The most common bruxism symptoms to watch out for are the following:
- Teeth grinding and clenching can be too loud that it can disturb your sleeping partner.
- Gnashing of teeth can wear down your tooth enamel, causing oversensitivity to hot or cold.
- Chronic gnashing of teeth can also result to corroded, fractured, loose, or missing tooth and may change your looks. Your teeth may become shorter, chin recedes and you look older than your age.
- The pressure on your jaw muscles from grinding teeth can cause headaches, neck aches, and occasional facial fatigue or pain.
- Too much pressure on your jaw muscles, tissues and other parts causes jaw pain. In worse cases, bruxism has been widely known to cause to temporomandibular joint (TMJ) problem.
- Because your ear canal is located near the temporomandibular joint, the force can cause pain to the ears and loss of hearing. Bruxers can also experience ringing in the ear or tinnitus.
- Bruxers also have tongue indentation.
- Teeth grinding can wake you up at night; when you do, sometimes you cannot go back to sleep and become insomniac.
When you are not sure whether it’s bruxism or not, you can seek professional help from your family dentist to correctly diagnose the condition. Your dentist will be looking for bruxism symptoms, such as damaged enamel, bone changes through x-ray, and sensitivity test. He will conduct a dental exam to diagnose if the disorder is due to malocclusion or misaligned teeth, or if they are due to psychological factors like anxiety or depression.
There are various ways to stop gnashing of teeth. Using a mouthguard is popular way to protect the teeth from getting damaged during grinding in sleep. Teeth grinding due to stress can be managed by doing relaxation exercises or meditation. Caffeine and alcohol also trigger bruxism so avoid colas, chocolates and coffee.