The Daily (and Nightly) Grind

Changing seasons from summer to fall often means returning from vacations and relaxed schedules to a more settled and structured routine. This is a perfect time of year to pay attention to yourself and notice your own personal habits.

Once you’ve slowed down enough, you may notice a few nagging symptoms, such as a dull, constant headache or a sore jaw when you wake up some mornings. Bruxism, or grinding and/or clenching your teeth is a common problem that affects millions of people, which often go unaware that they are doing it. Other symptoms besides a headache and painful jaw, can be damaged teeth, broken fillings and injured gums. You may not be aware of your own teeth grinding, but often the first people to notice your noisy problem are those that are close to you, such as a family member or roommate that is awakened at night by the sound of your grinding teeth.

During the summer, your teeth clenching and grinding may have been an occasional occurrence, but now, settling into a more consistent routine, you’ve noticed a regular pattern of disturbed sleep and painful days. Don’t delay getting help any longer; grinding you teeth can cause dental complications.

Catching bruxism in the early stages can help prevent dental issues such as losing the enamel from teeth and even worse, exposing the layer of dentin. When this happens your teeth can become very sensitive and lead to eventual decay. Other damage such as flattened or fractured teeth can result from untreated grinding.

A good start to your fall routine and help with your daily grind, is to visit your dentist. Even if you haven’t noticed your clenching and grinding yet, there’s a good chance your dentist will see the tell-tale signs during your checkup. Before deciding on a course of action the cause will need to be determined. If your grinding is due to improper alignment you may need a referral to an orthodontist.

If you have damage such as severely worn or fractured teeth, or broken fillings, your dentist may need to use crowns or fillings to help restore tooth health. To prevent further damage, a splint or mouth guard worn at night may be recommended.

Get away from the grinding and clenching pattern of pain and tooth damage and into the healing power of restoration and prevention. For more information and/or to schedule your exam, please contact our office today at 800-223-0801.

We would love to see you, at our convenient Cedarhurst, NY office! You can book online http://www.alinabergandds.com or call us today.