If you grind your teeth on a regular basis, this could impact how both you and your significant other sleep, and lead to serious oral health issues too. But you do not have to live with your chronic teeth grinding either! In today’s blog, your Ankeny, IA, dentist talks about how we diagnose and treat bruxism.
The Causes of Bruxism
What causes an issue like chronic teeth grinding to develop? You could suffer from bruxism due to issues that create imbalance in your bite and strain your jaw joints, such as missing teeth, dental misalignment, injury to the jaw or face, or issues with the growth of your jaw or eruption of your teeth. The arrival of your wisdom teeth could be a factor, as could high stress levels in your daily life. If you have untreated TMJ disorder, this could also be a possible factor. As part of your treatment, our team will carefully examine your smile with advanced digital imaging, assessing the presence and severity of your bruxism. We can then choose the right treatment option, which could include a custom oral appliance.
The Symptoms of Chronic Teeth Grinding
How do you know if you need to see our team for a custom bruxism appliance? People with chronic teeth grinding or clenching may report pain in the teeth, including persistent sensitivity or a toothache that does not pass after a day or two. You could also notice changes too, such as teeth appearing shorter or even chipped. There could also be pain in the neck, shoulders, and face, and chronic headaches and migraines. Do not ignore pain in your smile, we can offer a solution and also repair any damage to prevent the onset of tooth decay or infection.
Solutions with a Custom Oral Appliance
For some, we could provide relief with orthodontics to address misalignment, or we could fill the gap in the smile with a dental prosthetic, such as a bridge or dental implant. Our team could also help improve bite balance with a crown or even dental bonding. But for most, we offer relief with a comfortable and effective oral appliance.
The device will look like a mouthguard and fit like one too. When worn, this helps reposition the jaw to improve your bite’s balance and ease grinding episodes. There is also a soft barrier between the upper and lower sets of teeth to prevent further damage from occurring. If you have any questions about how we diagnose and treat issues like bruxism, then contact our team today to learn more.
Dental Impressions Offers a Solution for Bruxism
With preventive dentistry, our team can provide relief from chronic teeth grinding. To schedule an appointment for general dentistry, then call Dental Impressions in Ankeny, IA today at (515) 965-0230.
