Many people grind their teeth or clench their jaw at night usually when they are asleep and so there are totally unaware of it. The medical term for this is bruxism. It can cause teeth to chip or wear down and also it can cause head, neck, shoulder and jaw pains. It can also cause tempero mandibular joint dysfunction, which is a severe pain in the jaw and face caused by strained jaw muscles and jaw joint.
Bruxism is often (but not always) associated with stress so if you have a stressful job or are undergiong stress in your daily routine then you may start grinding your teeth at night to alleviate this stress. It can lead to sleep disturbance for yourself and your partner and pain in and around your head during the day. Other symptoms may include clicking or stiffness in your jaw, headaches and jaw pain. Some people may have so much stress that it can trigger migraines.
How to treat bruxism
Many times this is not correclty diagnosed and so people will be taking long term painkillers to try and alleviate the pain rather than treating the cause of the pain. Treatment is relatively simple; we will construct a custom fitting NTI splint for you to wear during the night. This is a small appliance which is covers the front of your top teeth and will prevent you from clenching or grinding your jaw. You can view testimonials from patients with TMJ/TMD problems in Glasgow that we have helped.
