Treatment For Your Teeth Grinding

When you grind your teeth on a regular basis, this could place enormous pressure on your smile and lead to serious complications. To protect your smile, you may benefit from an oral appliance, one custom-made for your smile. In today’s blog, your Cleveland, TX, dentist talks about treatment for bruxism, and how you can help lower your risk of developing grinding and clenching episodes.

The Causes of Teeth Grinding

We often grind or clench our teeth due to changes to bite balance, which could be caused by tooth loss, injury to the face or jaw, damaged teeth, dental malocclusion, or problems with the growth and development of the smile. Other factors include untreated TMJ disorder, or even a high level of stress in your day-to-day life. Warning signs of bruxism could include jaw pain, popping or clicking in your jaw, headaches, migraines, and aches in the face, neck, and shoulders. You could also experience toothaches and tooth sensitivity due to the injuries to your smile.

The Risks for Your Smile

In addition to the painful symptoms of bruxism we listed above, the pressure from grinding and clenching could actually wear down enamel, or even crack or chip the teeth. Your teeth could appear shorter, and the inner structure exposed by the damage could lead to the onset of tooth decay and dental infection. Which is why treatment is so important! Our team can repair the damage with treatments like dental bonding or a custom-made dental crown. But to help prevent grinding and clenching episodes, we could offer a custom and noninvasive solution for bruxism.

Oral Appliance Therapy

Our team will take detailed digital images of your smile from multiple angles, and then combine them to create a detailed 3D impression. We use this in a dental lab to design and craft the finished product, so your appliance is custom-fitted for your smile. Worn at night like a mouthguard, this helps prevent further damage by placing a barrier between the upper and lower sets of teeth. The appliance also repositions the jaw to help prevent further episodes, and can also help protect smiles from TMJ disorder. You could also help lower your risk of bruxism by avoiding caffeinated products, lowering your daily stress levels, and avoiding very hard or chewy foods. These simple actions could help bring relief to your smile.

If you have any questions about how we diagnose and treat bruxism, or about our custom-made oral appliances, then contact our team today to learn more.

Talk To Your Cleveland, TX Dentist About Treatment

We would like to help treat your teeth grinding with an oral appliance. For more information on our general treatment options, then contact your Cleveland, TX, dentist, Dr. Uhrenholdt, by calling (281) 592-1234.