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Pain, Headaches and Tooth Wear - What Can My Dentist Do To Stop My Teeth Grinding? - Meliora Dental | Dentist in Leeds, Yorkshire

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Pain, Headaches and Tooth Wear - What Can My Dentist Do To Stop My Teeth Grinding? - Meliora Dental | Dentist in Leeds, Yorkshire

Pain, Headaches and Tooth Wear - What Can My Dentist Do To Stop My Teeth Grinding? - Meliora Dental | Dentist in Leeds, Yorkshire

Pain, Headaches and Tooth Wear – What Can My Dentist Do To Stop My Teeth Grinding?

Tooth grinding is becoming an increasing problem, in huge part due to the increased levels of daily stress in the busy (and often hard-to-navigate!) modern world.

Tooth wear isn’t merely aesthetically problematic; it can debilitate your oral and general health, increasing your vulnerability to decay, and bringing about chronic jaw and headaches.

But enough of the negatives for a minute! – What can your dentist do to help stop your tooth grinding?

What Can Your Dentist Do To Stop Your Tooth Grinding?

Provide a splint

Splints prevent contact between your upper and lower teeth, reducing the possibility of tooth wear (which can occur during the day or nighttime).

The type of thickness for your splint depends on the severity of your clenching and grinding. Mild cases can be prevented with a soft splint, whilst severe cases that are causing serious headaches, jaw (and even back) pain are likely to be made of a harder material.

At Meliora Dental, all our splints are made using digital scans, so there’s no need for our patients to go through the arduous and uncomfortable hassle of manual impression-taking, using gloopy and horrible putty!

Provide A Zendura Retainer

Provide A Michigan Splint.

Provide A Bilaminar Splint.

Treatment For Worn-Down Teeth

The treatment of worn-down teeth is known as prosthodontics. Generally, dentists take a holistic approach to prosthodontics, creating a treatment plan that encompasses the prevention of tooth grinding and clenching at the same time.

Some of the ways in which we can rebuild your smile after chronic or severe grinding include:

Carrying out restorative dentistry for worn down teeth, such as composite bonding, fillings and crowns.

Full mouth rehabilitation. This involves creating a full wax model of your teeth to build up your bite. This is worn as a temporary smile, and your dentist will then make the necessary adjustments to make sure your dentition is correct, providing you with your long-term crowns.

This is mainly for people who have severely worn-down teeth as a result of chronic grinding.

Getting To The Heart Of Grinding

Often, tooth grinding can occur as a result of stress, and poor quality of sleep (which can be mutually exclusive and come as a pair!)

If you are experiencing high levels of stress over a short period or you are chronically stressed, activities like yoga and meditation can be of great help.

Cutting down on drinks that are known to cause inflammation and stress within the body, and disrupt your serotonin levels (alcohol and caffeine) has also been scientifically proven to reduce stress, and as a result, grinding in adult patients.

Sleep apnoea is a further cause of grinding, which can be caused by the mouth muscles trying to reopen the airway that has become narrowed as a result of sleep apnoea.

Why Does Tooth Grinding Cause Jaw Pain And Headaches?

When you grind your teeth, you place pressure on the muscles and tissues in your jaw. This pressure reverberates into the neck and head, causing muscle aches, tension, and pulsating pressure.

One of the most common jaw-related problems of tooth grinding is conditions with your TMJ joint, which connects the chewing muscles to the lower skull. TMJ disorders are characterised by:

Is My Tooth Grinding Responsible For My Back Pain?

Something that can go overlooked is the connection between back pain and teeth grinding. When muscles in the jaw tighten and spasm, neighbouring muscles (such as those in the back) can also go into spasm.

As it’s only a very small distance between the jaw and the back of the neck, it’s common to experience upper back and neck pain because of teeth grinding.

During your appointment with us, we can identify if teeth grinding could be the cause of other discomfort, such as jaw and back pain. Our approach is to provide lifestyle-focused dentistry that goes beyond caring solely for your teeth and smile.

If there are wider health complications linked to dental problems, our dentists will get to the heart of how to address these and refer you to the relevant medical specialist, if clinically necessary.

Are My Teeth At Risk From Tooth Grinding?

Yes. Tooth grinding is the leading cause of tooth wear, which weakens your teeth’s protective enamel.

Once your teeth are ground down, they become more vulnerable to problems like cavities, which are holes in your teeth caused by rot.

The good news it, there are ways to build back a healthy smile, even if your teeth have undergone substantial wear as a result of grinding.

Contact Meliora Dental For Grinding And Clenching Treatment

Get in touc h with us if you’ve been struggling with symptoms relating to tooth grinding, including jaw ache, headaches, clicking in the jaw and upper back pain.

If your teeth appear to look shorter, this can also indicate that grinding has occurred. The incremental nature of tooth wear can be a challenge to spot at home, but during your routine visits, we’ll be able to spot even the very first signs of it.

You deserve to get through each day headache, backache, and jaw ache-free! Our dentists will help you on the path to reducing your pain and improving the condition of your teeth after tooth wear and damage.

Give us a call to book in to have your teeth checked for signs of wear, and to speak to a dentist about grinding-related aches and pains.

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OFFICE HOURS

Monday & Tuesday

9:00am – 7:00pm

Wednesday

8:00am – 6:00pm

Thursday

8:00am – 5:00pm

Friday

8:00am – 4:00pm

Saturday

8:30am – 12:30pm

OFFICE HOURS

Monday - Wednesday

08:45am - 17:30pm

Thursday

08:45am - 18:00pm

Friday

08:45am - 16:00pm

Saturday

By appointment only

reception@melioradental.co.uk

Meliora Dental, 313 Roundhay Road, Leeds, LS8 4HT

01132 490 795

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