Tooth grinding
Tooth grinding, particularly at night, is very common, affecting up to 50% of people.
It can cause sore facial muscles, headaches, ear aches and neck pain, and can also cause the teeth to become ground down and more sensitive.
There are many causes of tooth clenching or grinding, including poorly aligned teeth and problems with the jaw joint. Stress and anxiety do not cause tooth grinding, they just highlight an underlying fault in how your teeth meet or problems in the jaw joint.
It may be necessary for us to provide you with a small appliance (a little like a custom made mouthguard) to reduce the wear on the teeth and to alleviate the symptoms. This is called an occlusal splint. If the problem is more advanced, a combination of treatments such as Dento-facial Orthopaedics, crowns and an occlusal splint may be required.