Ways to Lower Stress and Stop Grinding Your Teeth

stop grinding your teethWhile grinding your teeth is a common habit, if left untreated and not cared for, it can cause oral damage such as shortened teeth, increased sensitivity, broken teeth, severe pain, and more. While there are many causes of teeth grinding, one of the most common is stress.

In many situations, people who experience high levels of stress and anxiety begin grinding and clenching their teeth unknowingly, particularly when they are asleep. To help reduce this destructive habit, many experts suggest stress management techniques. Let’s talk about several of them that have been proven effective.

1. Yoga

Yoga offers many physical and mental health benefits. It is an excellent form of exercise, and it reduces stress, anxiety, and muscle tension. It helps lower the heart rate and blood pressure, and it can improve your quality of sleep. Yoga also encompasses meditation techniques, which helps you focus on your breathing and clear your mind, another popular and effective form of stress management.

2. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

CBT is a popular treatment option to help individuals reduce their stress, anxiety, and other mental health conditions. This therapy is designed to help you change your thinking and the way you behave. It can help you work through stress and the causes of it and change the way you deal with high-stress and high-pressure situations.

3. Take Time for Self-Care

Self-care is an important aspect of stress management. This can look differently for every individual but should be an important piece of their daily routine. This is when an individual sets aside time each day for themselves — to do something they enjoy.

Whether that is participating in a specific hobby or interest, relaxing in a hot tub, visiting the spa, reading a good book, going for a run, etc., it needs to be something the person enjoys and that they look forward to doing each day.

4. Writing About Your Stress

Keeping your stress and negative emotions inside can create muscle tension, anxiety, anger, and more. It can lead to negative effects such as teeth grinding if not released properly. One way to help reduce many of these emotions is through writing. Establish a habit of regularly writing in a journal.

Write about many of the issues you are stressed about and develop a plan to overcome them. It is also important to write about things you are grateful for. Expressing and showing gratitude for various things in your life will help you focus on the positive and cancel out those negative feelings.

If you or a loved one grinds their teeth, visit with your dentist at Pickering Square Dental. Your dentist can help you develop a treatment plan to stop the problem before it causes further damage.

Bruxism (Teeth Grinding) & How to Overcome It

Maintaining oral health is not just about brushing and flossing your teeth regularly. Sometimes, unconscious habits such as bruxism can also destroy the structure of teeth. Bruxism is a habit that involves grinding of the teeth. This often occurs during times of excessive anxiety, stress, anger, and other negative emotions. However, if a person does it continuously, it can certainly be damaging. 

If you are experiencing this, or if you know someone else who is, read this article to give you tips on how to stop this negative habit. 

Self-Awareness
Habitual teeth-grinding is commonly experienced at night, but it can also occur during daytime. If you are the person experiencing it, you should practice self-awareness by concentrating on what your body is doing. The moment you start to notice your jaw clenching, make an effort to relax it. You can do this by placing the tip of your tongue between the upper and lower part of your front teeth to fight the tooth-grinding urge. Self-preservation should prevent clamping down on your tongue. This will also force your jaws to relax. 

Relaxation
Experts agree that stress is one of the risk factors of bruxism. If you are feeling stressed out, it is best to take up a relaxing hobby or come up with a healthy routine such as yoga classes or exercise. It will be helpful to learn how to meditate even for small periods at a time, especially when you have stressful moments throughout the day. It is important that you find seclusion to calm your mind and to be able to relieve the day’s stress. 

Proper Equipment
There are times when a person suffering from bruxism (teeth grinding) cannot be self-aware because it occurs while sleeping. You can still protect yourself at night by having Dr. Lean fit you with a custom sleep guard. This is similar to a sports mouth guard. The only difference is wearing this at night to keep your teeth separated while you sleep. This will serve as a barrier that prevents your teeth from scraping across each other. This helps in preventing dental damage associated with bruxism. 

Lifestyle Change
Teeth grinding might worsen after consuming excessive amounts of alcohol or stress. More disturbed sleep means less rest and the more nocturnal activity you have, the more your teeth grinding would manifest. You should also stay away from chewing gum often. Chewing gum or pen lids might make your jaws used to clamping. 

Dr. Lean and the team are dedicated to address conditions such as this. Contact us today if you are experiencing any of these symptoms, or if someone you love is.

TEETH GRINDING: An Insight on Teeth Grinding, its Effects and How to Minimize Grinding During Sleep

Many of us grind our teeth from time-to-time. There are a numerous reasons why we grind our teeth, including stress and lifestyle choices. For some, teeth grinding can be a persistent problem that causes numerous challenges within their day-to-day lives. By understanding the problem, we can better resolve a grinding issue over time. And so within this blog, we’ll examine teeth grinding; its effects and techniques to minimize the problem.

 

A Common Challenge for People of All Ages

 

Teeth grinding or bruxism is an issue that can impact people at any age. The majority of teeth grinding incidents take place when the person is sleeping and they don’t retain full control over their teeth. This means it can become a difficult issue to resolve. Oftentimes, those who grind their teeth might not know about the issue until they’re informed by someone else that they grind their teeth in their sleep.

 

The Harmful Effects of Teeth Grinding

 

Teeth grinding can result in the fracturing, loosening or even the loss over teeth over time! Those who chronically grind their teeth may find that their teeth have been ground down to stumps over many years. In addition, teeth grinding can result in a numerous jaw-related issues and acute forms of the issue can even cause hearing loss. This means that, when teeth grinding is suspected, it’s important to speak with a local dental professional immediately to resolve the issue.

 

Steps to Prevent Grinding

 

There are a number of options for those who wish to prevent grinding in future. One of the most popular treatments is the use of mouth guards. Customized mouth guards can be fitted to the wearer’s teeth to prevent them from grinding during sleep. There are also a number of therapeutic treatments that can help reduce grinding over time. For example, sufferers might try to limit their caffeine intake or reduce their alcohol consumption. It’s also important to try jaw and whole body relaxation exercises in the evening before bed. These steps can help prevent grinding and ensure optimal dental health in future.

 

By working alongside your dental professional, you can review and resolve your teeth grinding issues. To learn more, speak with one of our trusted experts directly!