Bruxism

Bruxism is clenching, grinding, etc. It is an inconvenience. It can occur both at night and during the day, but it occurs more often during sleep. In advanced bruxism cases, the person may wake up to his own grinding sound, and the teeth may break due to the pressure applied during grinding.

Deteriorations in the jaw and tooth structure may occur due to bruxism. Since the related muscle of the person’s chin is overdeveloped, changes occur in the facial features. In addition, sleep disorders may accompany bruxism. Waking up with a headache, jaw pain, etc. It is a life-threatening illness. The cause of bruxism cannot be determined exactly, but stress is an important trigger, especially in the beginning.

What is Bruxism?

Among the people, bruxism is also known as clenching. It is the situation in which the person engages in actions such as clenching or grinding teeth for no reason in sleep or in daily life. As a result of this situation, there are serious complications that may occur in the teeth and jawbone. In individuals with external squeezing and squeezing problems, jaw and headaches are very common.

Teeth grinding can occur in different forms at night (nocturnal) and during the day (diurnal). In nocturnal bruxism, the person tends to clenched their teeth, sliding over each other and grinding as a result. In the daytime, it can be seen as clenching the jaw or holding the teeth in a way that creates pressure on each other.

One of the negative consequences of night bruxism is sleep disorder. People with teeth grinding problems have a higher risk of developing disorders such as snoring and sleep apnea than the general population. In addition, this discomfort can cause a decrease in the sleep quality of the person. In people with mild teeth grinding, this condition occurs more rarely and especially at night. In advanced cases, the person may clenched their teeth both day and night without realizing it.

It can affect the person’s sleep quality, social and daily life.

Causes problems in the mouth and teeth structure, jaw joints

It can cause teeth to break, crack or fall out of fillings.

It is a serious condition that can cause changes in the shape of the face by causing the jaw muscles to grow beyond measure.

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Clenching Symptoms

In cases where bruxism is experienced only at night, the person may not notice this problem for a long time. However, the noise he makes by rubbing his teeth against each other, family members, etc. can be loud enough to be heard easily. The symptoms, other than the sounds that occur, are generally as follows;

increased toothache

Cracking, breakage, etc. on the tooth surface. to be seen

Waking up in the morning with pain in the head and neck

Worn teeth

Unexplained pain in the ear

Jaw locking, contraction, etc. symptoms

Sleep disturbance and problems

Change in jaw alignment, deterioration

Apart from these, there are various symptoms of bruxism. Symptoms may appear differently depending on the person’s jaw joint structure, muscle strength and dental health. When one or more of these problems are seen, it is important that the person is examined by a dentist, the causes of bruxism are determined and treated appropriately.

Causes of Bruxism

What causes teeth grinding? This question is frequently asked by people suffering from bruxism, which is common in society. The cause of bruxism is not known exactly. However, it is known that genetic factors, physiological and psychological various conditions can cause teething problems. In addition, those with Parkinson’s disease have a higher risk of teeth grinding. Possible causes of bruxism are as follows;

Anxiety

Anger

Stressful Life

Parkinson’s and dementia

Reflux

Epilepsy

Genetic predisposition

sleep problems

Excessive caffeine consumption

nutritional deficiency

In addition, some medications can cause the problem of clenching as a side effect. The use of addictive substances is also a possible risk factor for teeth grinding. This problem is more common in those with a family history of clenching. In addition, the problem of teeth grinding, especially seen in youth, tends to decrease with age.

Teeth Grinding Treatment

It is possible to prevent the problem of bruxism with various treatment methods or to reduce the symptoms. In addition, problems caused by clenching should also be treated. Because the destruction of the teeth will cause cavities, inflammation and, in unrecoverable cases, missing teeth in the person.

The methods used in the treatment of bruxism can be aimed at eliminating the causes. However, if the problem is due to undetected causes, the person is relieved only with applications to prevent clenching. Some of these methods and applications are as follows;

There are drugs with ingredients such as muscle relaxants and dopamine agents used in the treatment of bruxism. Physical activities such as food and drinks that will help the person relax, yoga and breathing exercises, which can have a muscle relaxant effect, can also be tried before starting the drug treatment. Or it can be used to strengthen the effect of drugs.

If there is a reflux-induced clenching, the problem may disappear when the disease is treated with appropriate drugs. It is necessary to consult a dentist for diagnosis and a gastroenterology doctor for definitive diagnosis and treatment.

stress and psychiatric problems are prominent among them. Researches, mental problems or exams, etc. It shows that this problem is more common in people who have gone through a stressful period such as Getting psychological support to cope with anxiety, stress and anxiety can relieve the person psychologically and prevent clenching. It can also prevent jaw and teeth clenching with psychiatric drugs to be taken under the control of a physician.

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Night Plaque

Night plaque is among the treatment methods aimed at reducing the damage caused by the clenching problem. In this way, it can be prevented that the grinding problem, which occurs only at night, can damage the teeth. The stages of night plaque application are as follows;

The dentist removes the mold with the material applied on the teeth.

Dental plaque is prepared in accordance with tooth and jaw molds.

The prepared plates are attached to the teeth in accordance with the direction of the dentist.

The plate needs to be installed every night. If necessary, it is also possible to wear the plate during the day.

By using the night plate, problems such as inflammation caused by tooth grinding, tooth enamel wear, jaw slippage are prevented. Thanks to the dental plaque to be used in the treatment of bruxism, the problem of teeth grinding can be eliminated after approximately 21 days of application. Applied plates can weaken the teeth grinding reflex and weaken the muscles.

Teeth Grinding Filling

One of the preventive treatment applications of bruxism is jaw filling, teeth clenching filling, etc. among the people. It is known as masseter. The procedure is applied in the form of weakening the masseter muscles, which are very developed and strengthened due to clenching, with filling. Clenching decreases thanks to filling, and over time, the weakening of the muscles may disappear as the reflex is erased from the muscle memory.

At the point of “What is bruxism and how should it be treated”, many patients who are trying to cope with the problem are researching chin filling. In the long term, grinding of teeth causes the strengthening of the jaw chewing muscles, which are called masseters in medicine. This increases the destructive effect on the tissues and the damage to the teeth and jaw. The muscles that become stronger as a result of clenching may become visible from the outside.

With filling, the jaw muscles are neutralized and clenching is prevented. At the same time, the hard facial lines that occur are eliminated with filling, which restricts the movement of the muscles and causes them to weaken over time.

Teeth tightening filling is applied as follows;

After the physician’s examination, filling is injected into the muscles of the jaw.

It is a very short and painless procedure.

About a week after the procedure, the muscles in the area become unusable due to filling.

Filling, which is applied in approximately four-month periods, weakens the jaw muscles in the long term and can eliminate the teeth clenching reflex.

What Happens If Bruxism Is Not Treated?

It is known that bruxism leads to quite serious consequences. Therefore, its treatment is very important. As a result of untreated and advanced clenching cases;

Teeth may be severely eroded and living tissue called pulp may appear.

Cysts and inflamed structures may occur in the palate and chin.

Tooth fracture, decay and related tooth loss may occur.

Problems may occur in eating and drinking due to inequalities in tooth length caused by wear.

The resulting symptoms lead to aesthetic problems.

Jaw shift, speech disorder can be seen.

Excessive sensitivity occurs in the teeth.

Oral ulcers may occur.

Bruxism Exercises

There are various exercises to reduce tooth, jaw, head and neck pain caused by bruxism. In this way, it may be possible to relax and loosen the area and reduce pain. Some of the exercises that are good for bruxism are as follows;

Facial Pressure Exercise

Hands are placed on both sides of the face.

The hardened muscles on the face are detected by clenching the teeth.

Pressure is applied to these hard areas for about five seconds.

Fascia Release

The masseter muscle is fixed by clenching the teeth.

A firm massage is applied from the chin to the temples.

Then the same massage is continued in the opposite direction.

Jaw Stretch

The thumb is kept under the chin.

Pressure is applied to the finger by opening the jaw.

This is left for a few seconds and the application is repeated throughout the day.

It is possible to reduce pain and other symptoms by repeating these massages throughout the day. Thanks to exercises, the problems caused by bruxism can be reduced, and mild teeth grinding can improve. These exercises alone are not sufficient, especially in the treatment of advanced bruxism.

It is known that bruxism decreases and completely ends at some point in people who have undergone the necessary diagnosis and treatment methods. As a result of teeth grinding, social and private life, health and mental balance are adversely affected. For this reason, the treatment process should begin as soon as the disease is noticed.

Dent Ümitköy family works to solve bruxism and many other problems. You can apply to Dent Ümitköy, which stands out with its experienced and friendly staff and state-of-the-art equipment, for all your oral and dental health problems.