Teeth Grinding

Are you often waking to discover your mouth in pain? Are you incapable of preventing yourself from grinding your teeth while asleep? Teeth grinding is called bruxism, which means to unconsciously grind your teeth while you are asleep. This is a common issue which may be caused by stress or learned habits that are hard to shake. Let’s talk about your struggle with bruxism, the issues it may be causing for you, and how Gentle Dental can help you attain night guards.

What Are Night Guards?

What can night guards do?

A night guard is similar to a mouth guard athletes wear, but not quite the same. This guard is meant to provide a barrier between your upper and lower teeth so that you don’t do unconscious damage while you’re asleep. In this way, it is a brilliant solution. There’s no pain, no surgery, no invasive evaluations. You will simply have your teeth looked at after speaking with a dentist and then be able to attain a night guard.

All night guards are custom so that you have an easy time breathing and still being comfortable. This is done by allowing your dentist to make an impression of your teeth and then creating a mold from that.

How Do I Prevent Grinding Without a Mouth Guard?

What can you do right now?

There are conscious steps you can take to help prevent damaging your teeth while you sleep. Used with or without a mouth guard, these steps can help you get rid of your jaw pain.

The first step is simply making a conscious choice to unclench your jaw before falling asleep. While it seems odd, we are rarely actually aware of the position of our jaw when we’re not paying attention to it. More often than not, when we are laying down, our jaw closes. Relax it so that your teeth are not being pressed together. It may feel odd at first, but eventually, it will become second nature.

Second, if you are catching yourself being an idle chewer, make a decision to stop. You may often have gum or be biting down on objects while otherwise occupied. Put these objects down! You are reinforcing your mouth’s desire to chew or grind on something when it is idle.

Another thing that can make bruxism worse is drinking a lot of alcohol or caffeine. These substances can cause you to be more active or unaware of your actions than usual. If you are having a lot of issues, keep yourself from drinking either of these, especially near bed-time.

Contact Gentle Dental for Night Guards

At Gentle Dental, we can provide you with quality night guards to help you relieve jaw pain. In order to schedule an appointment with us, visit our contact form here or call one of our many Texas locations! We can’t wait to hear from you and give you the best dental care you have ever received. Don’t wait if you think you are grinding your teeth at night, talk to us today!