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What Can I Do to Stop Grinding My Teeth?

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Jake

Grinding your teeth is a bad habit that a ton of people have picked up. Unfortunately it causes a large variety of problems extending beyond the oral cavity. Some of these include sensitivity, jaw pain, cracked teeth, and severe headaches. Most grinders or clenchers are guilty of this habit in their sleep, but for people who are living high stress lives, this problem extends into their daytime routine. Today we are going to discuss ways to fight this bad habit and quit grinding those chompers.

Identify the Cause:

The first thing you need to do is figure out why you’re grinding your teeth. The most common reasons for grinding are stress and anxiety. Sometimes it could be due to the position of your teeth or jaw, sleep disorders, or even medications that you are taking for other conditions. Once you figure out what’s causing the grinding, it will be much easier to form a plan of attack.
 
 

Relaxation Techniques:

Since the most often culprit is stress, it’s appropriate to focus our first method of resolution on relaxation. Relaxation is found through different means for everybody. Personally, my place of relaxation is on the golf course. Yours may be yoga, meditation, or breathing exercises. Maybe it’s a different activity that helps you get your mind off of all the stresses in your life. Whatever the case may be, find your happy place each day to kick the grinding habit out of your life.

Ditch the Caffeine

Caffeine is a stimulant. It causes a lot of anxiety and tension, which as discussed are leading causes of grinding. If you can ditch the caffeine, you’ll see an improvement in your day to day, and not just with respect to tooth grinding. I’m a firm believer that dependence on a substance is never a good thing. Caffeine is certainly no exception to the rule.

How to stop grinding teeth
Grinding also causes something called abfraction, where your tooth chips away up next to your gums.

Night guards

If you can’t ditch the grinding habit, the next best thing is to put on a shield. In this case, I’m referring to a night guard. There are several options available for night guards. The most economical, and best way to test if you can put up with one, is to visit your local pharmacy. They have microwavable night guards that you can mold to fit your teeth. If that works for you and you find it effective, you can ask your dentist to make you a stronger, more long term solution. These will help protect your teeth from abrasion as well as keep your jaw joint and muscles stronger, despite the incessant grinding. For some people the mouth guard actually stops them from grinding altogether.

 

Bite Correction

If your teeth come together a little awkwardly, that may be the cause of your grinding habits. You may need to look into Invisalign or braces to get your teeth lined up better and avoid wrecking them all with your bad grinding habits.

Weekend Chipped Tooth Repair

 

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