1.What is bruxism?

Bruxism is when you clench (tightly hold your top and bottom teeth together) or grind (slide your teeth back and forth over each other) your teeth. It is a nonfunctional grinding or gnashing of teeth. The habit usually occurs at night, and if continued over a prolonged period of time, can result in abrasion of primary and permanent teeth.

2.What are the symptoms of bruxism?

Clenching the teeth puts pressure on the muscles, tissues, and other structures around your jaw. The symptoms can cause temporomandibular joint problems (TMJ). Grinding can wear down your teeth. Grinding can be noisy enough at night to bother sleeping partners. Symptoms include:

Anxiety, stress, and tension

Depression

Earache (partly because the structures of the temporomandibular joint are very close to the ear canal, and partly because you can perceive pain in a different location than its source (referred pain))

Eating disorders

Headache

Insomnia

Sore or painful jaw

3.What causes bruxism?

The cause of bruxism is not completely agreed upon, but daily stress may be the trigger in many people. Some people probably clench their teeth and never feel symptoms. Whether or not bruxism causes pain and other problems may be a complicated mix of factors:

Stress

Mal-aligned teeth

Your posture

Your ability to relax

Your diet

Your sleeping habits

4.How can bruxism be prevented?

To prevent damage to the teeth, mouth guards or appliances (splints) have been used since the 1930s to treat teeth grinding, clenching, and TMJ disorders. A splint may help protect the teeth from the pressure of clenching. A splint may also help reduce clenching, but some people find that it makes their clenching worse. In others, the symptoms go away as long as they use the splint, but pain returns when they stop or the splint loses its effectiveness over time. There are many different types of splints. Some fit over the top teeth, some on the bottom. They may be designed to keep your jaw in a more relaxed position or provide some other function. If one type doesn t work, another may. Ask your dentist for the right kind of appliance.