What Causes Teeth Grinding?

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Do you suspect that you are grinding your teeth at night? It’s an issue many people struggle with, often made more difficult by the fact that many people grind or clench their teeth at night, sometimes completely unaware of the damage they could be doing to their mouth.

why do people grind their teeth

What Causes Teeth Grinding?

There are a number of potential teeth grinding causes, including:

  • stress and anxiety
  • abnormal bite
  • missing or crooked teeth

It’s important to address these potential causes in order to stop teeth grinding and prevent the serious damage to your teeth that can come as a result.

Symptoms of Teeth Grinding

Some common symptoms of teeth grinding include:

  • headaches
  • stiff or sore jaw
  • earaches
  • stiff shoulders
  • lines on the inside of your mouth

Teeth grinding can be painful stressful for your jaw. Grinding and clenching your teeth can result in fractured, damaged teeth and may require serious dental repairs in the future.

When it comes to jaw clenching and teeth grinding, preventive measures are the best option.

How to Stop Grinding Teeth

  • Practice Healthy Jaw and Teeth Positioning. Push the tip of your tongue just against your front teeth, or even between your teeth. Practice this position throughout the day to train your jaw not to clench and prevent teeth grinding.
  • Relax Yourself. Since stress can often cause teeth grinding, try to relax your body. Begin an exercise regiment, practice meditation, and try to lower the stress levels present in your life.
  • Push Your Tongue Between Your Teeth at Night. Remind your jaw to stay relaxed and unclenched before going to sleep.
  • Get a Dental Night Guard. This is honestly probably the best option. At night, your teeth grinding could be causing serious damage to your teeth that just isn’t worth risking. Dental night guards ensure you aren’t hurting your teeth.

Usually dentists will recommend getting custom designed dental guards. These guards can be quite pricey, since a mold of your teeth is taken by the dentist, sent to a lab, and then used to create a customized night guard.

You can always go to a convenience store like CVS and buy a night guard kit there, but the quality will not be as good and many users find them too uncomfortable to sleep with at night. See our comparison review of custom night guards vs. store bought night guards for more info.

Instead, we recommend getting a custom night guard for teeth grinding from a private seller – they can provide dentist-quality custom-fitted mouth guards for a fraction of the price you’d expect to pay at a dentist’s office. Learn more by checking out our list of the best mouth guards for teeth grinding.

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about the author:
Meg Mars
Meg is a writer who is passionate about healthy eating. From Whole30 and South Beach Diet, to paleo and intermittent fasting, she's experimented with several healthy eating regiments and is passionate about helping readers find the perfect food plan match for their lifestyles.

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