Introduction
Teeth grinding during sleep takes place without conscious influence from the subconscious. Teeth grinding during sleep usually goes unnoticed at first by the person(s) concerned and is often only discovered by the life partners through sounds that occur. Untreated, complaints such as muscle pain, toothache or loss of enamel and thus sensitive teeth usually only occur in the further course of the night.
Causes
Teeth grinding can have various causes. One of the main causes is psychological and physical stress, which manifests itself in the form of teeth grinding. While the body recovers at night, it tries to process the stress, often by grinding teeth unconsciously.
When the psychological pressure subsides, the unintentional clenching of teeth is also often stopped. But in chronic stress, those affected can suffer from so-called bruxism for years, which eventually causes permanent damage to the teeth and problems with the jaw joint. Another reason for teeth grinding can be the anatomy of the teeth or tooth misalignment.
In this case, there are disturbing early contacts between the upper and lower jaw, which the body wants to grind away with the help of the grinding in order to achieve a correct bite. The same problem sometimes occurs with new dentures or crowns that are too high and thus also cause disturbing early contacts. In these cases, the dentist should be consulted, who can remove the missing parts.
Symptoms
Teeth grinding in sleep is usually noticed in the morning, but rarely does it wake you up. In the morning, biting together often causes toothache, and it can also cause a slight numbness in the lower jaw. The musculature is often tense in the morning and hurts. If the muscles are palpated precisely, the smallest nodules can be felt if teeth are clenched for a long time. Headaches are not uncommon at night when teeth are gnashed.
Consequences of crunching during sleep
Teeth grinding is not without consequences. Headaches can result in the short term. The reason for this is the constant activity of the chewing muscles, which leads to tension in them.
These tensions then usually cause headaches, which can be very unpleasant. There are also problems with the temporomandibular joint, which can also cause pain. Over the years, the grinding leads to wear and tear of the teeth. Those affected usually complain about aesthetic problems, as the shape of the teeth is changed and the exposed dentin has an unattractive yellow color.
