Bruxism, or constant teeth grinding, is a common side effect of elevated stress levels and bad sleeping habits. It usually starts with a stressful sleep and progresses to jaw clenching and then vigorous teeth grinding. Additionally, there’s no specific cure for bruxism. You might take muscle relaxants or sleep medication, but once the effect wears off, you’ll start grinding your teeth again.
The only way to stop it is to reduce the stress and get a peaceful, full night’s sleep. This can be tricky because bruxism itself elevates your stress levels further, preventing you from escaping the cycle and relaxing. Wearing a custom night guard during sleep can considerably reduce the adverse effects of bruxism on your teeth and prevent tooth damage.
But in the end, it doesn’t stop it. We’ve created this guide to help you find ways to relax your mind and reduce the symptoms of bruxism to get proper and energizing sleep.
Ways To Relax
Try To Maintain A Good Sleep Schedule
It might sound a bit foolish, but to improve your poor sleep schedule, you need to sleep more. Even if you’re getting full 8 hours of sleep, your body isn’t able to relax due to your bruxism. So you’ll end up waking up tired and fatigued. Adding more sleeping hours in addition to your standard 8 hours will help your body relax, and it’ll help reduce the stress and anxiety that’ll hopefully reduce your bruxism and allow you to sleep better.
Invest In A Dental Guard
The best thing you can do to control your bruxism is to get a custom dental guard. This dental guard will create a cushioning layer between your teeth, and you won’t be able to grind your teeth. This will reduce the pressure you feel on your jaw and teen and allow you to relax and sleep properly. Depending on the level of bruxism, you can get soft dental guards, hard ones, or ultra-hard ones.
Stop Eating Unhealthy Foods
Foods high in oil, salt, and cholesterol will stress the body and increase bad cholesterol accumulation. Additionally, foods with high salt count lead to dehydration which stresses out your brain and can lead to daytime bruxism. So indulging in healthier food options will help you improve your health and well-being, which in turn, will reduce the effects of bruxism.
Go For Stress Counselling
The best way to reduce your depression and anxiety is to talk to a professional. Usually, anxiety and stress are caused by unmanaged emotional trauma. Talking about it with a professional will give you the right perspective you need to relax your mind and lead a happier life. Your doctor might also give you some temporary medication that helps you regulate your sleep cycle and relax your mind.
Do Jaw Exercises
A common sign of bruxism is a clenched jaw. Exercising the jaw can release all the tension built in it and condition the muscles. This results in less jaw-clenching. You don’t have to invest in complicated workouts; simple exercises like touching the top of your lips with your tongue or slowly opening and closing your mouth will give your jaw a good workout.
Reduce Alcohol And Caffeine
Alcohol is known to be a catalyst for developing bruxism. Alcohol can disrupt your sleep patterns and alter the brain’s neurotransmitters. This leads to hyperactivity and increased anxiety. As a result, you have trouble maintaining a proper sleep schedule, and in the long run, this disturbance causes you to develop bruxism. The same happens when you drink too many caffeinated drinks. Limiting both will show you a considerable difference in your bruxism and allow you to manage it better.
Damages Bruxism Does
Tooth Chipping
The worst thing bruxism can do for your teeth is enamel damage and teeth chipping. Constant teeth grinding slowly erode the top layer of your teeth, exposing them to environmental irritants and increasing their sensitivity. And since there’s no cure for bruxism, your teeth continue to deteriorate as time goes by.
Sensitivity
Chipped teeth or damaged enamel increases the sensitivity of your teeth because there’s no barrier protecting them. Additionally, receding gums from bruxism can also expose nerve endings that lead to more sensitivity. Since the enamel is damaged, there can’t be anything done to rebuild the protective layer, and you have to deal with sensitive teeth forever. But with a dental guard, you can prevent enamel damage before it becomes irreversible and gives you lifelong issues.
Jaw Pain And Migraines
Jaw pain and migraines are common sideeffects of bruxism. The pressure on your teeth travels to the jaw muscles and leads to jaw pain. This, in turn, sends stress signals to the brain that can lead to migraines. A dental guard prevents all of this from happening by absorbing the force on your teeth and creating a barrier between both sets of teeth.
Get Your Custom Dental Guards With Clear Comfort Night Guards
Custom-made dental guards are created for your specific teeth profile and provide a superior fit. They’re also made using higher-quality materials and fit better. Clear Comfort Night Guards is a dental lab in California that offers its customers high-quality mouthguards.
These dental teeth grinding guard are built to order by dental technicians who use your unique jaw profile to ensure a flawless fit. When you place an order through the Clear Comfort Night Guard website, you will receive an impression kit that you can use to build a mold of your teeth. This mold allows professionals to create an exact model of your teeth.
We offer dental guards in a variety of materials, including soft, hard, and ultra-hard. In addition, we offer lightweight, ultra-soft dental guards for daytime bruxism. We also provide quick shipping, simple returns, and a money-back guarantee.
You may even use our helpful quiz to decide which night teeth guards is best for you. Go through our collection and place your order today!
About The Author
The author is a dental technician who works with various dental labs to create custom dental fittings for their clients. One of her tasks is to create custom dental guards, which she has been doing for the past 7 years. She also runs a blog where she highlights the importance of dental care and helps people find possible solutions to their dental issues, including bruxism.
