How To Stop Grinding Your Teeth: Tips and Tricks

Bruxism, also known as teeth grinding, affects one in five adults — or about 20% of adults worldwide. The habit can cause wear and tear to the teeth and will eventually lead to receding gums and enamel loss. This is why it is important to curb the habit at the earliest. An over-the-counter solution like teeth grinding guard is often used to curb the habit.

Although treatment for bruxism is best done by a dental professional, there are a few tips you can use at home to stop the habit.

Use a Mouth Guard Recommended by a Dentist

One of the most popular treatments for bruxism that can be done at home is to use a mouth guard. Although a mouth guard or teeth grinding guard doesn’t stop you from gnashing and clenching your teeth, it can protect the teeth from the adverse effects of doing so.

A mouth guard is often used at nighttime, but people with severe bruxism may be advised to wear it during the day. Getting a mouthguard is relatively simple and easy to wear. The first step is to visit your dentist, who will take scans of your teeth to create a custom-designed mouth guard that you can easily wear.

Pro tip: To loosen the fit of your mouth guard, you can hold it over boiling water for about 10 seconds. This will soften the fit and help you wear it more comfortably.

Fix an Uneven Bite

An uneven bite has been known to cause bruxism. It is recommended to restore your bite to normal with the help of a reductive coronoplasty. The procedure will create a more uniform surface of your teeth to fix the uneven bite.

Once the surface of teeth becomes more uniform, you will be less likely to grind them. This treatment requires a visit to your dentist, who will determine if you’re eligible to receive it.

In some cases, braces can also help with bruxism because they gradually shift the upper and lower teeth into the correct positions. Over time, this can prevent tooth damage and jaw tension.

Find Ways of Combating Stress

Stress is one of the most common causes of bruxism in adults, whether it occurs when awake or during sleep. It is highly recommended to visit a general practitioner to reduce stress. There are home remedies you can use for stress management. Studies have shown that becoming physically active can relieve stress by releasing feel-good endorphins and other chemicals.

Working out can also improve your mood for the day, which can do away with some of the irritation during the day.

Another quick tip is to avoid unhealthy habits such as smoking and overeating. Not only do these habits harm your health, but they can also cause undue stress. Finally, socializing with like-minded people and forging connections can be a great way to relieve stress. This is because social contact provides a good distraction from stress-inducing activities. Try volunteering for a charitable group where you can help others while also establishing social contact.

Try a Muscle Relaxant

Muscle relaxants are a common treatment for bruxism. The process involves the injection of certain chemicals into the jaw area that prevents the brain from communicating with the jaw muscles. This makes it impossible to tense the muscles that cause teeth grinding. The chemicals used in muscle relaxants for teeth grinding can vary, but it is the same substance used to get rid of wrinkles.

Anti-anxiety medications may also get the job done by forcing the jaw muscles to relax. These muscle relaxants are orally available in the form of pills, such as cyclobenzaprine and diazepam. Although muscle relaxants provide quick results, they are the best solution. For one, these injections can be very expensive, especially if you take them over a long period of time. Secondly, these muscle relaxants can be very additive and may present other health concerns once you start consuming them in larger quantities.

Moreover, they could also disrupt your cognitive skills and impair driving activities, making them unsuitable for you if you plan on getting behind the wheel. At the end of the day, we recommend taking a teeth-grinding guard to prevent it.

Try Not to Eat Things That Aren’t Food

Things that aren’t good, such as chewing ice and gum, should be avoided because they can activate the chewing reflex that can cause grinding. In extreme cases, chewing gum can also cause TMD (temporomandibular joint disorder), a painful condition that affects the jaw.

Here is a list of extremely chewy foods that you should avoid (besides chewing gum):

● Popcorn

● Steak

● Candies

On the contrary, try to introduce foods rich in magnesium into your diet such as boiled spinach, fish, and black-eyed peas in your diet. These foods are known for relaxing the muscle tissues and preventing grinding.

Do These Exercises for Bruxism

There are a few exercises you can practice at home to help with bruxism. We’ve rounded up two easy-to-follow exercises below:

● Yawning: Yawning 5 to 10 times in a row stretches your jaw muscles, which can relax the muscles.

● Jaw massage: Do this exercise in the shower by running warm water down your face. This will soften the area, which can help you massage more effectively. Now gently press the muscles of the jaw with your fingertips on either side of the face and make small circles. This helps with knots in your muscles.

Wrapping Up

There you have it, a quick look at the top six things you can do to stop grinding your teeth. The most effective of these methods is to simply use a mouth guard recommended by a dentist. These ideas are highly effective and can dissipate the force of the impact of teeth grinding and prevent damage done to your teeth.

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