If you have chronic teeth grinding, also known as bruxism, could develop and without treatment, leave your teeth damaged. To prevent cracked or chipped teeth, our team could provide relief with an oral appliance. In today’s blog, your Ankeny, IA, dentist talks about the risks of untreated teeth grinding and how we can help!
The Causes and Impact of Teeth Grinding
What causes someone to grind their teeth each night? Bruxism could be due to imbalance in your bite, including factors like misalignment, missing teeth, injury to the face or jaw, or issues with the development and growth of your jaw. The eruption of the wisdom teeth could be a factor, as could untreated TMJ disorder. For some, high stress levels in daily life could be responsible. Without treatment, this could place serious pressure on the teeth, wearing them down so they look shorter and also damaging the outer structure with chips and cracks. These injuries not only change the appearance of the smile, but increases the risk of tooth decay and dental infection.
The Symptoms of Bruxism
How do you know if you grind your teeth each night? For some, they will be altered by their significant other. While others could recognize symptoms that occur during waking hours, such as chronic headaches and migraines, jaw and facial pain, and aches in the neck and shoulders. There could also be tooth sensitivity and toothaches that don’t subside but only increase in severity with time. When you experience one or more of these symptoms, see our team right away. We will examine your smile to assess the wear and friction and find out the severity of your bruxism, so we can choose the right treatment option. For many, the solution will be a comfortable and noninvasive oral appliance.
Treatment with Custom Oral Appliances
We begin by taking detailed digital images of your smile, so we can custom-fit the oral appliance to ensure treatment with portions and accuracy. The device will be worn as you sleep at night, and will look and fit like a mouthguard. When worn, this helps reposition the jaw to ease stress and strain on the jaw joints, so you avoid symptoms. This also places a soft barrier between your sets of upper and lower teeth, which helps prevent further damage to your teeth. The oral appliance is easy to use and clean, and you can also take it with you when you travel for work or go on a vacation.
If you have any questions, then contact our team today.
Dental Impressions Provides Custom Treatment Options
We want to help protect your smile from the impact of untreated bruxism. To schedule an appointment and avoid damage to your teeth, then call Dental Impressions in Ankeny, IA today at (515) 965-0230.
