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/