How to Stop Grinding Your Teeth?

some suggestions to reduce grinding your teeth at night
If you have ever woken up with a sore jaw, you might be one of the millions of people grinding their teeth at night.

Teeth grinding, or bruxism is a serious habit that is made all the trickier that it often happens when a person is asleep, making it hard to stop. In fact, a person might not even know they are grinding their teeth until serious symptoms appear.

But there are ways to quit! Though it’s tough to go “cold turkey.” It might take some time to eliminate the habit altogether. Here are few suggestions to help reduce grinding your teeth at night.

Suggestions to Help Reduce Grinding Your Teeth At Night

1. Reduce Stress

Teeth grinding is often a symptom that a person is living with a lot of stress. And in many cases, this stress is not being effectively dealt with, so it comes out as teeth grinding at night.

Therefore, one of the best and most effective ways to stop grinding teeth at night is to do things that reduce stress. This is different for everyone. It might include getting more exercise, meditating, or going to therapy. One of the best ways is to mindfully “wind down” at the end of the day, whatever that may look like (a warm bath, reading a book) so that crawling into bed is a stress-free zone.

Less stress generally means improved health and wellbeing in general, which is a great step toward eliminating teeth grinding.

2. Focus on Your Jaw

One symptom of grinding your teeth is a clenched jaw throughout the day. Building awareness of the muscles in your jaw can help reduce tooth grinding at night. You can also massage your jaw, especially if it is sore, which helps bring your awareness to the area. With time, focusing on loosening the muscles around the jaw can lead to less clenching and grinding at night.

3. Use a Mouthguard

While a mouthguard might not prevent a person from grinding their teeth, it will reduce the damage. When a person grinds their teeth, the teeth wear down over time. This can lead to weakened, damaged, or cracked teeth, and major dental work down the road.

A dentist can fit a custom mouthguard to a person, which is a great choice, or drugstores sell them over the counter. Whatever option works with a person’s budget. A mouthguard is often a necessary step in preventing damage to teeth, while a more permanent solution is found to grinding.

Teeth grinding can impact a person’s oral health and lead to a variety of symptoms and side effects, including:

  • Headaches
  • Sore jaw
  • Pain in the face and ears
  • Worn down teeth, especially molars
  • Loose teeth
  • Cracked and damaged teeth
  • Broken existing dental work

If you suspect you are grinding your teeth at night, or if your dentist notices the signs and symptoms of grinding, it’s important to take steps to reduce the habit. If not, there can be consequences later on that are painful and costly. Start by looking at your stress levels and taking steps toward improving your health and wellbeing. If you have any questions or need a dental appointment in South Surrey, please contact us.