Teeth Clenching Symptoms
Clenching and Grinding of your Teeth is unhealthy and can lead to more serious problems with your teeth.
Some people who clench and grind their teeth while sleeping may have symptoms like jaw pain, related headaches, sensitive teeth (temperature and pressure), gum/bone recession and chipped/cracked teeth. While others will not have any symptoms at all. For some, clenching and grinding is related to stress or discomfort, while others will do it out of habit for no reason at all.
How do you know? For those that have symptoms, the answer is relatively easy when other causes are ruled out. For those without symptoms, one of four things can happen. The first is that gradual changes will evetually lead to shortening and chipping of your front and back teeth. The second is that once the protective layer of enamel is worn, some sensitivity may develop. The third, is that with sufficient pressure you introduce a deep crack within a tooth (which can then cause signficant discomfort). The last, is that someone tells you that you clench or grind your teeth when you sleep.
How does your dentist know? We look for signs on the surface of teeth such as crack lines, chips or abnormal wear spots. Sometimes we can see the wear pattern on dental x-rays. At Harvest Dental Care, we also take routine Dental Health Scan of your teeth (this is a 3D video rendering of your teeth) where we can show you where the pressure spots are on your teeth (this feature on our scanner is called an iTero Occlusogram). Using this scan we can magnify to show you where wear spots are.
But you don’t think I’m clenching or grinding my teeth anymore? It’s true, we don’t know when you created wear spots or chipped the edges of your teeth. It could have been in the last 6-8 months or 5+ years ago. We give our patients the benefit of doubt. We can alway rescan your teeth at a routine check-up and then compare the shapes of your teeth over a period of time (this feature on our scanner is called an iTero Time Lapse). Sometimes this gives the more definitive answer of whether the surface of teeth are being deteriorated.
The treatments available for teeth clenching and grinding can vary from using a night guard appliance (several types exist), snore guard, relaxing the muscles involved with abnormal clenching and grinding (neuromodulator treatments) and massage therapy. Let our dental team help navigate you through concerns with clenching and grinding during sleep.
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