Why Do I Grind My Teeth?

Grinding your teeth at night can leave you feeling unrested and sore the next day, making it harder to live the busy, upbeat life that you want to. Grinding your teeth is a medical condition called bruxism. Though a very common disorder, the reason for its occurrence has a large range of variation. According to WebMD, 25% of people grind their teeth. That is a huge percentage of people to all have the same disorder, and the worst part is that very few of that large percentage do anything to treat it.

Common Treatments

The most common treatment for bruxism is to wear a mouthguard at night. A mouth guard can be purchased over the counter at most convenience stores. You can also have your dentist make a mouthguard for you. This option tends to be more expensive but sometimes worth it. Your dentist can form the mouthguard to your mouth so it fits more comfortably and so you notice it less. A lot of the time your insurance will even cover most of the costs. This is, of course, effective because it makes it so you can’t grind your teeth, as long you remember to wear the mouthguard. But grinding your teeth is usually caused by an underlying issue, that if you treat will also cure your teeth grinding.

Misalignment

The first, and simplest cause of bruxism is that your jaw or teeth are misaligned. This causes them to wear and grind on each other in the wrong places. To realign a misaligned jaw, there are a couple of options depending on how it is misaligned. If you have a severe underbite or overbite, braces are often the easiest solution to realign your bite. But if your teeth are straight and you don’t need braces you might have a retainer and rubber bands put in to pull the jaw forward or backward. If it is too severe to be fixed either of these ways, then surgery may be the only option to correct this. If surgery isn’t something you want, or if it’s not severe enough, your dentist will often just have you wear a mouthguard.  

Sleeping Disorder

Though it surprises most, a sleeping disorder can actually cause you to grind your teeth. The most common sleeping disorder that causes you to grind your teeth is Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). OSA causes you to stop and start breathing throughout the night.This can cause you to wake up constantly, snore, and feel very tired during the day. the US, 25% of people have this disorder, and the worst part is a very small percentage of those people ever go to the doctor for it. If a sleeping disorder is causing you to grind your teeth, then treating the disorder should also cause you to stop grinding your teeth.

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