How to Treat Bruxism

Bruxism is the technical term for the grinding, clenching, or gnashing of one's own teeth that occurs during sleep. It is believed that as many as one out of four people suffer from bruxism to at least some degree. According to the University of Virginia Health System, the symptoms of bruxism include damage to and weakening of teeth, sore jaw muscles, and damage to the tongue and cheeks. If you have ever bitten your tongue or cheek while consciously chewing, you might imagine that it can happen far more often and with greater force when you have no control over your actions. The longer your bruxism persists, the worse it can get.

Instructions

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  Step 1
  The cause of the condition is something you should consider before deciding how to treat bruxism. Stress is one of the main causes of bruxism. In this case, the problem is not the condition itself - the problem is the stress, and it should be treated as such. To treat bruxism caused by stress, start a case-specific stress management program (formal or informal), then re-assess your situation. This could involve something as simple as getting enough sleep at night or making sure you are getting regular exercise.
  

How to Reduce Stress in Your Life

While some stress is actually necessary for you to function at your best, too much takes a mental and physical toll. Learn to manage stress levels to prevent anxiety, depression and other conditions.

Step 1
Write down everything you have to do when you're feeling overwhelmed. Set a time frame, then block out when you will accomplish what. By divvying up your workload into manageable chunks, each with an allotted time, you'll feel more relaxed about the work before you.

Step 2
Concentrate on one task at a time. Stressing about work you haven't done yet only detracts from accomplishing the task at hand.

Step 3
Manage your energies wisely, prioritize your workload and put in less effort for low-priority jobs, and avoid expending energy on unimportant tasks.

Step 4
Delegate responsibility and get outside help if you feel overwhelmed. Hire a gardener for your lawn or a baby sitter for your child when you feel pressed for time.

Step 5
Reward yourself for accomplishing things. Acknowledge the work you put in and give yourself a pat on the back, instead of immediately rushing into the next task and creating more stress.
 
Step 6
Take small breaks during work. Visit a nearby café or take a quick walk, or allow yourself 10 minutes to relax in your office: Close your eyes, strip your mind of work-related thoughts, visualize a pleasant landscape or vacation scene and relax your muscles.

Step 7
Exercise regularly to maintain your health and release stress, or take up a hobby. Set aside some quiet time to meditate and relax.

Step 8
Give yourself vacations. If indulging in a long vacation (and staying away from work) seems even more stressful, try taking several short vacations per year.
 
Step 9
Maintain your perspective by asking yourself, "Is the situation at hand really that serious that I should become stressed-out about it?"

source: http://www.ehow.com/how_3830_reduce-stress-life.html

Teeth Grinding In Your Sleep? 5 Simple Solutions

Probably the worst part about grinding your teeth in your sleep is that you're totally unaware it's happening. After all, you're asleep! Unfortunately, the next morning can bring about a harsh reality, with jaw pain, headaches, and sensitive teeth.
Worse yet, this condition, known in medical circles as bruxism, can cause further complications if left untreated. These include loss of tooth enamel, loose teeth, and tongue problems. Much like any health problem though, there are underlying causes as to why you're grinding your teeth at night.
Let's look at five causes of teeth grinding at night, and five simple solutions you can implement starting today ...

#1. Alignment

Although no one is exactly sure what causes teeth grinding, many dentists find improper teeth alignment is a big culprit. Of course, getting your teeth aligned isn't a simple solution, but a mouth guard is. In fact, a mouth guard should probably be your very first step, in order to avoid further damage to your teeth until underlying activators can be addressed. Mouth guards are easy to wear, and are readily available. Your dentist can recommend an appropriate choice.

#2. Stress

Ah, now here's where we start getting to the heart of the matter. Be honest with yourself and identify your stress activators. Chances are, these stress points are effecting other aspects of your health as well. Even if they aren't, you'll need to address and deal with your stress. We recommend brisk exercise 5 to 6 times per week. Far and away, exercise is the best stress reliever available to us. Even a one mile walk will help alleviate your stress level.

#3. Posture

We're referring to your sleep posture here. Make sure your head is slightly elevated while you're sleeping. A good, comfortable pillow is your best bet. This will help your airways clear and put you in a more relaxed state. Dentists point to evidence that suggests most teeth griding occurs while sleeping on your back with your head flat and even with your torso. A slight elevation of your head and neck can ease the grinding problem.

#4. Diet

When we discuss diet, we're addressing two different aspects. First, make sure your diet is conducive to restful sleep. That is to say, no late heavy meals or foods that will impede your sleep. However, be aware that some foods and drinks are natural stress reducers. Peppermint is an excellent example. Lemon is another. Try drinking herbal non caffeinated teas flavored with these two elements to creat a chain reaction effect of better sleep and less teeth grinding.

#5. Sleeping Habits

Even if you can't devote a full eight hours for sleep, it's important to try to develop consistent sleeping habits. In today's world, that's often hard to do, but be aware that stress is triggered by inconsistent sleeping patterns. The unfortunate consequence is often teeth grinding.

Summary
Probably the biggest cause of teeth grinding is stress. And while stress usually can not be alleviated using one strategy alone, it's important to recognize and understand your stress factors. Usually, these factors are the primary cause of grinding your teeth while you sleep.
Take a good hard look at the five solutions above. Be honest with yourself, and then implement the strategy or strategies most appropriate for you. When in doubt, start with your dentist, who can tell you if your teeth grinding is due to a condition beyond your control. Fortunately though, most teeth grinding is caused by stress and not more serious medical problems. Address your stress, and chances are great you'll resolve your teeth grinding problems.

By: Jim Hofman

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

How To Stop Teeth Grinding

Wear a tooth grinding night guard. Your dentist can make a plastic or acrylic appliance for you to wear to stop teeth grinding at night. Although it may not stop you from grinding teeth, it will redistribute the forces from grinding and protect your teeth from damage. You need to see dentist regularly to check for any tooth movement or cavities that might result from wearing such an appliance. Keep in mind, however, that in order for the night guard to do any good, you must remember to put it in.

Keep your lips sealed, but your teeth apart. Your teeth should be touching only when you’re chewing or swallowing. Drop your jaw and feel the muscles relax – then try to maintain that feeling.

Take a warm bath before bedtime. The warmth of the water may temporarily relax your jaw muscles and save from teeth grinding.

Exercise. Your body, not your jaw, that is. A walk or other mild exercise may help relieve some of the tension and stress that’s causing bruxism.

Remind yourself. If you’re a daytime clencher, think of ways to remind yourself not to clench. For example, you can put a red dot on your phone, stickers on your wristwatch, or even a string on your finger to remind you to keep your jaw relaxed.

Relieve stress. Stress is a major contributor to grinding tooth, so if you can reduce stress, you will likely reduce grinding.

Learn coping skills. See a psychologist or psychiatrist. Take an assertiveness training course. Practice techniques such as progressive relaxation or guided imagery or self hypnosis. Listen to relaxation tapes. In other words, find something that helps you to better handle the stress in your life.

Apply heat. Warm, moist heat is best. The simplest method: Soak a washcloth in hot water, wring it out, and hold it up to your jaw. You can use a heating pad, although moist heat will penetrate better.

Massage. It works for the rest of your body, so try a gentle massage to your jaw muscles.

Give your jaw muscles a break. Limit steak, hard-crusted bread, popcorn, gum, and other chewy foods that give your jaw a workout, especially when jaw discomfort is at its worst.

Other Tips To Stop Teeth Grinding:

• Avoid or cut back on foods and drinks that contain caffeine, such as colas, chocolate, and coffee. Be consistent with healthy diet.
• Avoid alcohol. Grinding tends to intensify after alcohol consumption.
• Do not chew on pencils or pens or anything that is not food. Avoid chewing gum as it allows your jaw muscles to get more used to clenching and makes you more likely to grind your teeth.
• Train yourself not to clench or grind your teeth. If you notice that you clench or grind during the day, position the tip of your tongue between your teeth. This practice trains your jaw muscles to relax.

These tips should help you ease your jaw pain and get your bruxism under control before you grind your teeth into dust. However it is not intended to provide medical advice

Stop Teeth Grinding in Children

Children feel pressure, too, and half-pints often take the full brunt of stress right in the jaw bone. That’s one reason why nighttime bruxism is more common in kids than adults.
Failing to nip childhood teeth grinding can do devastating damage to primary teeth and take an irreversible toll on a youngster’s permanent choppers.
So if your child has a nighttime tooth-grinding habit, here are some ways to help nip it in the bud, from bruxism researchers Alexander K. C. Leung, M.D., and W. Lane M. Robson, M.D., both of the University of Calgary and Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary.

• Make bedtime enjoyable and relaxed by reading to and talking with children. This gives them an opportunity to review some of their fears and angers of the day.
• Give your kids ample opportunity and space to play throughout the day. With preschoolers especially, it’s important to have toys and games suited to their stage of development. With older children, encourage them to pursue activities like organized sports that release pent-up energy.
• Be patient, sympathetic and understanding about the troubles they’re having – whether it’s potty training or schoolwork. Threats and punishment only raise the stress level and are likely to make tooth grinding worse.

But even with these precautions, you should definitely take your child to a dentist or pediatric dentist if the child has significant bruxism, according to Dr. Leung and Dr. Robson. They point out that most pediatricians look for cavities and missing teeth, but only dentists regularly check for signs of tooth grinding. And it takes a dentist to prescribe a special dental appliance that prevents teeth from being worn down.

source: http://worldental.org/teeth/stop-teeth-grinding-night/

How To Diagnose Teeth Grinding

Teeth grinding or bruxism is a problem that all affected persons should address. While its effect could merely be on the physical appearance of the teeth, there could be major reasons why a person grinds his teeth at night or during the day. It could be because he or she is suffering from an undiagnosed disease or that the medications are causing it.

It is very important for the instances of teeth grinding to be observed, screened, and diagnosed. More often than not, you need to go to a dentist for an initial checkup. The dentist would look for the physical indicators of bruxism. This is not very hard to do, because if there are unusual wearing or tears on the teeth, then the chances are high that bruxism had caused it. Aside from this, tooth sensitivity and broken or worn dental restorations are also telltale signs of teeth grinding. The same is true with loss crowns and fractured teeth.

If the dentist sees any of these signs, he or she will request regular appointments with you. This is to check whether the condition is progressive or not. If it were, the dentist would proceed to assess the extent of the problem. He would also look for changes in one's teeth or mouth areas. At that point, he could prescribe a treatment therapy or may request for additional examinations.

Dentist would usually find the main cause of bruxism before he prescribes a treatment course for it. He can start by asking you relevant questions about your health, stress level, regular medications, dental health history, or even your coffee and alcohol drinking habits. Sleeping habits may also be asked to determine if bruxism happens during the night. At which, the doctor could request a meeting with your room mate or sleeping partner so as to learn more about your sleeping behavior. The dentist would specifically ask if you make unusual grinding or teeth clenching sounds during the night while sleeping.

The severity of bruxism is assessed by the full examination of one's mouth. The jaw muscles are checked for tenderness, including all other dental abnormalities stated previously. Poor teeth alignment, broken, and missing teeth are good indications that a person's bruxism is severe. But aside from your teeth and their underlying bones, the cheeks could sustain damages from bruxism as well. There could be sores or wounds on the cheeks as they may get in the way of teeth clenching. To help dentists assess the condition, several x-rays of the jaws and the mouth will be requested.

Bruxism may possibly affect the ears as much as the jaw and the cheeks. Dental disorders such as temporomandibular joint disorder may be detected as well. Dentist will try to provide the necessary treatment from his end. But if other disorders surface, like otitis media or ear infection, he would have to refer you to an ear expert to provide you with the proper treatment procedure for that. Another series of examinations may be required.

There are cases that bruxism is caused by psychological disorders, lack of sleep, or stress. If your dentist suspects that these are the root causes of your bruxism, he would most probably refer you to a psychiatrist, therapist, or councilor. These experts should be able to help you out with your condition more.

Bruxism should be properly addressed the moment it is detected. A lot people assume that teeth grinding is nothing but a harmless habit. But with the type of medical attention provided to people suffering from bruxism, it is important you get the right course of treatment to prevent further damage to the teeth and eventually, to one's health.

source : http://www.teethgrindingcure.com