When you grind or clench your teeth at night, this could wear down and damage teeth. You could experience a host of uncomfortable symptoms and even risk the onset of cavities or infection. In today’s blog, your Richfield, MN, dentist talks about recognizing the warning signs of chronic teeth grinding, also known as bruxism.
The Causes of Your Teeth Grinding
How do we start grinding our teeth so frequently? Typically, this could occur due to factors like stress and may be short-lived. But prolonged and persistent grinding means bruxism, and could damage your smile. This could be due to issues like TMJ disorder, misalignment, injury to the face or jaw, missing teeth, or issues with the growth of your jaw or the eruption of your teeth. As part of your treatment, our team will conduct a detailed diagnosis to examine the smile and assess the cause and severity, so we can choose the best treatment option for your teeth grinding.
Symptoms and Potential Dangers
People may experience headaches, migraines, jaw and facial pain, or issues with tooth sensitivity or toothaches. Over time, the pressure can wear down enamel to chip or crack teeth, or make them shorter then normal. The damage then exposes the sensitive inner structure and increases the risk of cavities and infections, which can impact the stability of your smile. Don’t risk painful symptoms and even the loss of your teeth, talk to our team about treatment and also options to correct damage and restore your smile’s appearance and balance.
Our Oral Appliances
When we examine your smile, we may choose orthodontics to address untreated misalignment and malocclusion, or even bridges or dental implants to replace missing teeth. Our team can even improve overall bite balance with bonding or custom crowns. But in many cases, we offer a minimally invasive and comfortable solution with a mouthguard. The oral appliance is designed to fit comfortably and then gently shift your jaw to ease stress and strain. The appliance also puts a barrier between your upper and lower teeth to stop further damage from occurring. The oral appliance is easy to use, simple to clean and store, and can take with you as needed.
If you have damaged teeth, we can use dental bonding or even crowns to repair and restore them, so your smile looks great again! If you have any questions about how our team will diagnose and treat issues like bruxism, then contact our team today to learn more. We want to offer you a healthy, strong, and comfortable smile again.
Learn More About Treating Teeth Grinding
If you are interested in finding the right solution for your bruxism and protecting your smile from injury, give us a call at Cedar West Dental in Richfield, MN today at (612)861-7188 to schedule an appointment.
