Teeth grinding is not as innocent as you think

Do you sometimes get upset with a nasty headache, a stiff neck and a sore jaw? Know that you are by far not the only one. The culprit: teeth grinding.

Everyone knows someone who is gagged. Maybe it’s your love that keeps you awake at night by clogging your teeth, your colleague who produces strange noises under stress or maybe yourself. Bruxism, which the habit is called, is annoying to bystanders and is also very bad for your teeth and jawline.

“Teeth grinding is one of the main causes of jaw pain,” says Richard Marques, a dentist who gets a lot of acquaintances, including Rita Ora, on his dental chair. “We often do it during our sleep or when we suffer from stress,” he says to the British magazine Glamor.

At first glance, no big problem, you might think. But if you regularly make yourself guilty of it, it is more harmful than you think. “Your tooth enamel and the sensitivity of your teeth suffer from it, and it can cause wear and tear on your teeth. And it can lead to pain in the jaw and thus to neck pain and headaches.”

Unfortunately, you cannot really unlearn this behaviour. According to Marques, wearing a tooth guard at night is the best option. “Another alternative is acupuncture because this technique helps your muscles relax. Hypnosis is also a possibility.” As a last resort, he suggests a botox treatment because this is also a muscle relaxant.