Dental Articles - Waterdown

Teeth Grinding and Jaw Pain

Most people who grind their teeth do not know they do it, because most of it happens during sleep. It is usually identified either by a partner who hears it or by a dentist who recognises the wear pattern, which is distinctive.

Signs worth recognising

A dull ache in the jaw on waking that eases through the morning. Headaches centred at the temples, again worst on waking. Teeth that have become sensitive without any obvious decay. Flattened or chipped biting edges, particularly if front teeth are meeting in a way they did not used to. Clicking from the jaw joint. Ridging along the inside of the cheeks or scalloped indentations along the edge of the tongue, both caused by pressing tissue against the teeth.

Repeatedly cracked fillings or a tooth that fractures with no decay to explain it is another common presentation. The forces involved are considerable and are applied for hours without the protective reflexes that operate when awake.

Why it happens

Sleep grinding is not fully understood, but it is associated with arousal from lighter sleep stages rather than with the bite itself, which is a change from what was believed for decades. Stress is strongly associated. So are certain medications, particularly some antidepressants, along with alcohol, caffeine, smoking and recreational stimulants.

The association that matters most clinically is with obstructive sleep apnoea. Grinding often occurs at the point where breathing resumes after an obstruction. If grinding comes with loud snoring, witnessed pauses in breathing, or heavy daytime tiredness despite adequate hours, that combination is worth raising with your physician, because treating the airway problem can resolve the grinding and matters far more for your general health.

Daytime clenching is a different habit, usually tied to concentration or stress. It responds to awareness in a way that sleep grinding does not.

What treatment can and cannot do

There is no reliable way to stop sleep grinding. What treatment does is protect the teeth from it and reduce the muscular consequences, which is a meaningful distinction to understand before starting.

A custom night guard is the mainstay. It is made from an impression of your own teeth, so it fits precisely and the biting forces spread across it rather than concentrating on individual teeth. The plastic wears instead of the enamel, which is exactly the point, since enamel does not regenerate and a guard can be replaced.

Custom guards differ meaningfully from boil-and-bite versions. A poorly fitting guard can allow teeth to shift, and some people clench harder against a bulky one. Our guards page covers how they are made.

Alongside that: reducing evening alcohol and caffeine, addressing stress where it is a clear factor, and reviewing medications with your physician if grinding began after a change. Where teeth are already worn, restoring them is worth doing, but only once the grinding is being managed, since new restorations placed into an unprotected grinding habit tend to fail the same way the natural teeth did.

Jaw joint pain

Pain in the joint itself, in front of the ear, is related but not identical. It can follow grinding, or arise from clenching, injury or arthritis. Most cases settle with conservative measures: softer food for a period, avoiding wide opening and chewing gum, warm compresses, and gentle jaw exercises. Cases that persist, that lock, or that stop you opening properly need assessment rather than continued self management.

Panacea Dental is at 105 Clappison Ave #103 in Waterdown, open Monday to Friday from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm and Saturday from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. We are accepting new patients. Call 289-408-5100 or book online.

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