How to Define Bruxism
Written by admin on Friday, July 30th, 2010 in Bruxism.
When one attempts to define bruxism, it can ideally be outlined as the grinding and clinching of the teeth. Bruxism has taken about 30 to 40 million people in the US, between both kids and adults. Some folks are accustomed these characteristic dental behaviors and there are people who grind their teeth even during sleep. This is known as “nocturnal bruxism†or “sleep related bruxismâ€. Some other people might have this automatic practice of teeth grinding during the day. Bruxism is often affiliated with anxiety and stress, while some experts consider that bruxism is merely a habit and nothing more than that.
Bruxism can be induced due to stress but also might be an instinctive response due to misalignment of teeth. Bruxism can also be a signal of some of the rare neuromuscular diseases that involves the face. In certain uncommon cases, bruxism can be an after effect of certain medicines used for treating depression, such as Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft. People having habitual bruxism can even experience a breakage in fillings in restored teeth. When the teeth are rubbed together it causes the outer most enamel layers to erode thus, exposing the dentin, and causing tooth sensitivity. Severe bruxism can also be a frequent cause of dysfunction of the jaws, unexplained morning headaches and frustrating facial pain.
A few of the more common symptoms of bruxism are rhythmical tightening of your jaw muscles, grinding sounds while sleeping that might cause sleep disruptions for the person lying next to you, and an unexplained headache in the morning. Other symptoms include constraining or pain of the jaw muscles during the morning, long-lived facial pain, damaged teeth, breaking of fillings, injured gums in addition to as pain in the jaw joints. If you have been seeing any of these dental problems, you should see a dentist immediately because a dentist will be in the best position to determine if you are a teeth grinder and will suggest essential steps after evaluating you. Your tooth doctor might ask you some general questions pertaining to your dental health, about stress in your life and if you”re under any medication. If you”re living with a mate, the dentist might also ask a few questions to him/her such as questions related to your sleeping habits, unusual sounds while sleeping, grinding sounds at night. After that, your dentist will closely observe you, paying attention to the mouth and the jaw regions. During examination, your dentist will also check for any tenderness in the jaw muscles and the joints as well. Your dentist might further look for any other abnormalities like, broken teeth, hapless alignment of teeth or absent teeth.
