Recognizing Your Teeth Grinding Habits—A Simple Guide

Whenever people fall asleep, some who have difficulty sleeping often find themselves grinding their teeth unconsciously. Also called bruxism, teeth grinding is considered a common occurrence that could end up causing alarm once it becomes more serious.
 
The moment grinding your teeth unconsciously begins to affect your life and causes other health issues, you will need to consider it a dental emergency requiring immediate treatment. One way to prevent clenching your teeth is to get to the bottom of it and discover its primary cause. In such occurrences, it’s essential to use a mouth guard to allow you to avoid damaging your oral health and get the sleep you deserve each night. 

Keep reading below to find out more about grinding your teeth and what will happen if you fail to handle the situation. 
 
What Causes You to Grind Your Teeth?
 
Teeth grinding is regarded as a sign indicating a deeper health situation, which could be due to an array of reasons. The typical causes for why you grind your teeth together at night are stress, nervousness, and other poor sleeping habits. It could also be due to developing an abnormal bite, which happens when your teeth start to decay for failing to take care of your oral health, or other underlying dental health issues. 

In the end, you will need a dentist’s expertise to figure out your teeth grinding habits and determine if it’s due to psychological reasons or dental problems.
 
Signs You’re Experiencing Bruxism
 
When you don’t do anything about your grinding habits, not only does it affect your health, but the people around you will have a difficult time dealing with your unconscious grinding too.

If you sleep by yourself, it can be complicated to determine if you grind your teeth at night, so it’s helpful to have someone else with you who can tell if you’re teeth grinding in your sleep. You can also tell you have teeth grinding problems when your jaw tends to ache or your mouth feels sore each time you wake up. If you’re getting a headache, toothache, or feel like you’re losing your hearing, it could also indicate that you’re grinding your teeth at night.
 
Side Effects of Teeth Grinding
 
Once you learn you have teeth grinding problems, but you don’t treat it as an emergency dental situation, it can worsen over time. It will only lead to prolonged teeth grinding, which could result in damaging your teeth, resulting in loose or missing teeth. If you’re wearing dental implants, such as bridges, crowns, dentures, or root canals, they can also be affected by your teeth grinding. 

Besides your oral health, you can experience pain in your ears and head and possibly end up deforming the shape of your face in the long run. Since your teeth and jawbones are connected, teeth grinding can negatively impact your lower jaw. 

The best thing to do when you can’t handle the situation on your own is to seek a dentist’s help to prevent the problem from becoming unmanageable if you suffer from the consequences.
 
Conclusion
 
While teeth grinding is a normal occurrence, you shouldn’t be too complacent about it, especially if it’s starting to affect your daily routine. When you’re experiencing any of the symptoms above, you should visit your dentist right away to avoid going through the side effects and treating your grinding while it’s still early. Whether it’s due to psychological reasons or more serious dental concerns, a professional dentist can help take care of your situation.
 
Are you looking for an emergency dentist in Edmonton to manage your bruxism? 24/7 Emergency Dental Clinic offers dental services, including cosmetic and restorative dentistry. Get in touch with us today to book an appointment and address your dental problem immediately!