Treating Teeth Grinding Prevents Dental Damage
When you grind your teeth on a regular basis, this is a disorder known as bruxism. Without treatment, this could even damage your smile and leave it vulnerable to decay and infection. In today’s blog, your Cleveland, TX, dentist talks about how we treat teeth grinding to prevent dental damage.
The Causes of Teeth Grinding
Why do we grind our teeth so frequently? Bruxism could develop for a number of different reasons, including high stress levels. But often, this is linked to changes in bite balance, such as missing teeth, malocclusion, untreated TMJ disorder, injury to the face or jaw, or complications with the growth and development of the jaw and oral structures. When this develops, you could experience frequent headaches, jaw pain, migraines, ear pain, aches in the jaw and face, and tooth sensitivity and toothaches. When you notice pain in and around your smile, let us know right away!
What Bruxism Could Do
Without treatment, this could begin to weaken down enamel, cracking and chipping teeth and even making them appear shorter than usual. The damage could leave the tooth vulnerable to harmful bacteria, allowing cavities and even dental infection to develop. Without treatment, you run the risk of worsening pain and even the loss of your tooth! When you arrive for an examination, we will look at your smile for signs of wear and friction, and assess the factors behind your bruxism. From there, we can craft a treatment plan tailored to your smile. We can also repair the damage in one visit with dental bonding, or with the placement of a custom-made dental crown.
Potentials Treatment Options
For some, we can replace missing teeth with a prosthetic, or use orthodontics to correct the alignment of your smile. But in most cases, we use a comfortable and noninvasive oral appliance. This is crafted based on digital images we take of your smile. The resulting appliance will look and fit like a mouthguard, and is worn as you sleep at night. This not only addresses the strain behind your bruxism, but puts a barrier between the upper and lower sets of teeth, a barrier that helps prevent further damage to your smile.
If you have any questions about how we diagnose and treat cases of teeth grinding, then contact our team today to learn more. We want to help preserve the health, beauty, and function of your smile!
Do You Grind or Clench Your Teeth?
We would like to help you avoid cracked, chipped, or worn-down teeth. If you have any questions about protecting the health of your smile, or if you would like to schedule a consultation today, please contact Cleveland Family Dentistry in Cleveland, TX, at (281) 592-1234. You can also find our practice at 205 E. Houston St. Cleveland, TX 77327.