Leaving a problem with teeth grinding untreated can cause you to experience headaches, difficulty with biting and chewing, and potentially serious dental trauma over time. This issue, known as bruxism, can be connected to TMJ dysfunction, and can actually make this matter worse by continually putting stress on your jaw! At our Houston, TX dental practice, we can identify signs of teeth grinding when we examine our patients, and we can provide protection with a custom appliance. The specially made guard that you receive can protect your smile by stopping you from grinding or clenching your teeth at rest. This can keep your teeth safe, help relieve you of headaches and facial pain, and return to a life without uncomfortable TMJ troubles.
How Bad Can A Problem With Teeth Grinding Become?
The longer a person spends grinding their teeth each night, the more likely they are to develop serious dental damage. Continually grinding or clenching your teeth can also aggravate your jaw joints and muscles enough to interfere with your biting and chewing functions, cause you to experience chronic headaches, and suffer additional pains in your face and neck.
While discomfort can become a serious concern for someone with bruxism, you should be aware of how serious your risk for dental trauma might be. When you clench your jaw, or grind your teeth, you put enough pressure on your enamel to cause chips and cracks to occur. You can also notice a change to your appearance because of wear and tear over time. Problems with dental damage can be serious enough to require restorative dental work.
Using A Custom Guard To Stop Harm From Bruxism
Wearing a custom oral appliance each night can ensure that your teeth are safe against the effects of bruxism. We take the time to carefully measure a person’s bite in order to provide a guard that feels comfortable, and is easy to keep in place. While this appliance is enough to stop frequent teeth grinding from affecting you, receiving a guard may just be one part of a larger approach to addressing TMJ problems.
Bruxism Can Contribute To TMJ Issues
Bruxism and TMJ dysfunction are often connected, as a problem with one of these issues can eventually lead to the other affecting a person as well. We have experience giving dedicated support to people who struggle with pain from TMJ dysfunction, and those who have chronic headaches that may be connected to oral health issues. We can go beyond just providing a custom guard for bruxism, and help you live life without persistent discomfort!
Talk To Healthy Smiles Family Dentistry About Addressing Bruxism
Healthy Smiles Family Dentistry is ready to work with patients who are struggling with bruxism! If you have questions about teeth grinding and clenching, or if you are worried about the damage this problem has already caused, please call our dental office in Houston, TX, today at (281) 974-4494.
