Bruxism means clenching and/or grinding your teeth. Bruxism is one of the lessor things talked about in dentistry, but I feel it is one of the most important! Bruxism contributes to: sensitive teeth, cracked teeth, broken teeth, excessive wear on teeth, craze lines in the enamel, split teeth, loose teeth, bone loss, TMJ dysfunction, pain in the TMJ region and muscles of the head and neck.

It is of great concern to me as so many people have it, are unaware of it, and many dentists ignore it, but it must be considered when sleep disorder appliances are constructed. If you have any of the above mentioned signs and symptoms and do not have a sleep disorder, such as snoring or sleep apnea, I would suggest you consider wearing a bite guard at night to save your teeth and many related dental expenses. Bite guards are quite comfortable, help you sleep better and prevent many dental and pain related problems as well as save you money.

 

We all brux our teeth. We are just not aware of it and some of us, fortunately, don't brux with as much intensity or frequently as others. Most commonly we brux when we sleep. Usually as adults we do not make any sounds when we brux, therefore even your sleeping partner is unaware of it. Many people brux during the day as well and also unaware of it. You can observe this bruxism in others when you see their muscles over their molar teeth areas bulging in and out especially when they are concentrating on something such as in a move theater during a stressful scene or such mundane things as concentration during work or play. We subconsciously do this and are unaware of it. For example, I have observed many people clenching their teeth even during dental appointments when they a totally relaxed, and If I were to ask them if they were aware of clinching or grinding their teeth they usually say, " I'm not aware that I do that". To a dentist, other signs of bruxism are shinny wear facets on the enamel, crowns and fillings, worn cusp tips, as well as excessive wear patterns on teeth. Of course all of the signs and symptoms as discussed in the first paragraph denote probable bruxism. Day time bruxism can be controlled if we are aware of it, but night time bruxism can not be controlled, and it is usually intensified. This is a very destructive and important problem to take into consideration when making any appliance, be it a sleep disorder appliance, bite guard or other dental work.

 

Why do we brux our teeth? There are numerous reasons given, such as: high spots on crowns and fillings, or a malocclusion, but, we also know it is some how stress related. The bottom line is that many times we really don't know why we brux, but,we should not ignore it's destructive out come and we can do something about it. I believe that a lot more attention and research should be given to this very destructive day time and nocturnal disorder. I would therefore urge you to take this into consideration whenever your have an appliance made to treat your sleep disorder. Much more could be said and written about this important subject of bruxism, but a correctly made and balanced appliance or bite guard will make your appreciation and comfort of treatment more enjoyable, as well as successful, and you should enjoy your appliance for a long time.