When you grind your teeth on a nightly basis, this is often referred to as bruxism. A serious oral health disorder, bruxism could lead to damaged teeth and other major oral health complications. In today’s blog, your Garland, TX, dentist will discuss how we treat the issue with a custom-made and comfortable oral appliance.
The Causes of Bruxism
What causes a person to regularly grind or clench their teeth at night? Causes could include untreated TMJ disorder, which develops when jaw joints become strained. Other causes include tooth loss, dental misalignment, bite imbalance, stress, or injury to the face or jaw. You may have a significant other let you know that your grind your teeth, otherwise you should be aware of the symptoms that occur during waking hours. Common warning signs could include pain in the face or jaw, tooth sensitivity or toothaches, headaches and migraines, or neck and shoulder pain. If one of more of these possible symptoms apply to you, then contact our team right away!
Damaged Teeth
The pressure from grinding and clenching could eventually wear down tooth enamel, or even crack or chip a tooth. The resulting damage could make teeth appear short, and also experience sensitive inner tissues to harmful oral bacteria, leading to higher risks of tooth decay and dental infection, or even tooth loss in extreme cases. Should a tooth become damaged due to your bruxism, following treatment we can offer care to restore the tooth, such as using dental bonding or crowns to ensure lifelike and durable results.
Treatment Options
We could help with orthodontic care to correct misalignment and ease strain, or use a custom crown to restore bite balance. However, the most common solution is to create an oral appliance. To start, we will take detailed images of your smile with digital technology, enabling us to design and craft an oral appliance. The appliance will look and function like a mouthguard, and will be worn as you sleep. The device then repositions the jaw to ease strain and stress, and also places a barrier between the upper and lower sets of teeth to prevent further damage to your smile. If you have any questions about how we correct issues like bruxism, then please contact our team today to schedule your next visit. We want to provide a comfortable and effective treatment option!
DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT STOPPING BRUXISM?
We’re ready to protect your smile from major complications of strained jaw joints or imbalanced bites. To learn more about our preventive treatment options, then schedule a consultation by calling Mai Dentistry in Garland, TX, today at 972-530-0552. For our patients who don’t speak English, our office is fluent in both Spanish and Vietnamese.
