Are you grinding your teeth? You could be stressed or have a sleeping disorder

Health

Are you grinding your teeth? You could be stressed or have a sleeping disorder

Teeth grinding and jaw clenching – likewise known as bruxism – could manifest during sleep and even unconsciously in the solar day.

03 Mar 2022 06:30AM (Updated: 10 Aug 2022 01:09PM)

We cope with stress – consciously and unconsciously – in various ways. Some of us reach for some comfort food to feel better while others hit the gym or head out for a jog to go into the Zen zone. Then, there are the unconscious manners in which we react to stress, such as the peculiar odour our bodies produce nether duress.

Or you may be clenching your jaw or gnashing your teeth unknowingly – a condition known as bruxism – especially when your boss is animate down your cervix for a report.

Information technology'south not just stress causing you lot to do that, depressed individuals may also be decumbent to teeth-clenching, said Dr Chua Ee Kiam, a senior consultant with the Department of Restorative Dentistry's Prosthodontic Unit of measurement at the National Dental Centre Singapore.

"I would look at the psychological states, every bit in some cases, depression may also activate bruxism. Equally high as 38 per cent of the patients seen hither were significantly depressed, too, when they reported jaw joint symptoms, which are probable a result of the furnishings of bruxism," said Dr Chua.

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In fact, a PubMed commodity, in which 470 participants were surveyed, too noted that "individuals who grind their teeth tend to written report more than symptoms of feet and depression than non-bruxers", with bruxism seemingly "more than severe during periods of heightened stress and anxiety".

Why some people develop bruxism when stressed or depressed while others don't depends on how they perceive and manage the stimulus, said Dr Chua. During slumber, "the hidden listen may exist more active than usual", he said. And as the heed attempts to solve some of the day'south bug, information technology may issue in gnashing or clamping of the teeth for some individuals.

BRUXISM IN THE DAY AND AT NIGHT

Some experts term bruxism every bit the clenching or grinding of the teeth, while others grouping them together, noted The American University of Oral Medicine (AAOM). Simply no affair what the action is, bruxism can happen in your sleep – and fifty-fifty during your waking hours. In adults, awake bruxism is more prevalent (22 per cent to 30 per cent) than sleep bruxism (1 per cent to 15 per cent), said Dr Chua, because patients are "ofttimes aware of the habit in the day".

Considering of this awareness in the 24-hour interval, awake bruxism is not equally insidious equally sleep bruxism, co-ordinate to Dr Yue Weng Cheu, the clinical managing director of DP Dental and DP Dental Orchard. The nocturnal version can exist caused by slumber apnoea, which one third of our population is at moderate or severe hazard of, he said.

A worrisome form of it is obstructive sleep apnoea when the pharynx muscles relax during sleep and block the airway to the extent of interrupting breathing. What happens next is, the body sends out a stress response to raise heart and respiratory rates to become in more oxygen, said Dr Yue. Sometimes, this stress response increases muscle activity in the jaw, which in plow, leads to clenching or grinding during sleep.

Slumber bruxism could also exist caused by the way you breathe. "Rima oris breathers, for instance, status their tongues to lay low in the oral fissure during the day and when they continue to mouth-breathe at night, they suffer the consequences of airway obstruction or resistance, resulting in snoring and sleep bruxism," said Dr Yue.Almost every patient who suffers from slumber bruxism is unaware of his or her habit unless the sleeping partner complains most the dissonance at night, said Dr Chua.

ARE Y'all PRONE TO BRUXISM?

The prevalence of bruxism is college in individuals from ages xxx to 49 than those older than lx years onetime, said Dr Ho Kok Sen, a dental specialist in oral and maxillofacial surgery at Specialist Dental Group, Mountain Elizabeth Hospital. "According to AAOM, the prevalence of bruxism tends to decrease with age, with the lowest in people over 65," he said.

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So, how common is bruxism? Dr Chua sees about 10 to xx cases every month, while Dr Yue handles about four cases a week on average. Age is non a factor as both doctors have patients of diverse ages.

HOW Exercise YOU TELL IF YOU HAVE BRUXISM AND WHAT'S THE DAMAGE?

Is there pain in your temporomandibular joint (a hinge-like joint that connects your jaw to the skull) – specially in the morn when you wake up? While brushing your teeth, take a look in the mirror: Are your teeth looking shorter than before?Have note, as well, when you're eating; is at that place pain or sensitivity when you chew? Do yous notice a change or misalignment in your seize with teeth, or yous just can't bite properly anymore? Or you can't fully open your mouth? If you answered "yes" to any of the to a higher place, information technology'south time to check in with your dentist for bruxism.

Clenching typically cracks your pearly whites and causes musculus soreness, pain and damage to the jaw. On the other manus, grinding wears off the outermost protective enamel and exposes the nerve-rich dentin, which results in molar sensitivity, noted AAOM.

"Sometimes, nosotros don't run into the grind marks or facets clearly merely we can detect craze lines (cracks in the enamel) in the teeth," said Dr Yue. But by the time the craze line has developed into a crack (involving the enamel, dentin and lurid of the tooth) and has joined with the other cracks, the patient has already worn down his teeth to the point of breakage, he said.

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The duration information technology takes to wear downwardly your teeth depends on the thickness of your teeth's enamel, said Dr Ho. "People who take weaker tooth enamel will having a college risk of teeth breakage if bruxism persists."

Dr Yue added that information technology is "difficult to tell how long that takes just those with the habit of bully open up crab shells, nuts, water ice cubes and chicken bones with their teeth run higher risks".

WHAT TREATMENTS ARE At that place?

Salve for the scenario when yous can't fully open your mouth and crave surgery to "unlock" the jaw, you lot'll probable need root-canal and crown treatments, said Dr Chua, and sometimes, extraction.Meanwhile, wearing a mouth guard may aid to minimise the wearable and tear. Just do non grab i off the shelf. "Using a mouth guard from the sports store is like using a pair of shoes yous picked up on the street," said Dr Yue, explaining that the dentist needs to customise the fit for y'all. "If the fit is not skilful, the muscles volition suffer."

In addition, "over-the-counter mouth guards are by and large fabricated of thinner materials, which may not exist able to withstand the force if your clench or grind is extremely hard", said Dr Ho.

Still, a mouth guard doesn't directly address the root crusade of bruxism, said Dr Yue, which can sometimes be traced to sleep-related animate disorders. Moreover, an upper guard should not be used during sleep if the patient has breathing disorders. "This is because the upper guard volition block the tongue from lifting to the palate and that tin can aggravate the obstruction of the airway, leading to a more than disastrous outcome," he explained.

Botox injections to reduce the muscular deportment in the jaw may help temporarily, said Dr Chua. Other than those, he suggested keeping stress levels under control and leading a counterbalanced lifestyle.

Are you grinding your teeth? You could be stressed or have a sleeping disorder

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