Tips To Stop Bruxism Clenching - Ayushveda

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Bruxism is an oral parafunctional habit or in simple words, refers to the deep rooted use of the mouth for unknown purposes other than eating or speaking. This condition can affect both children and adults, in which the individual voluntarily or involuntarily (mostly) grinds or clenches his or her upper and lower teeth.

If this ingrained habit continues at night, during sleep, it is known as sleep bruxism.?Unlike the other oral functional activities, Bruxism unleashes one of the most destructive forces amounting to 300 to 3000 psi on the teeth leading to their accelerated wear (related to the horizontal direction of force application too).

Although dentists have always been perplexed by the exact reason that triggers bruxism, there are certain causes linked to this condition. People who take a lot of mental stress, do not vent their feelings of frustration, anxiety or even anger almost always exhibit bruxism. Varying types of abnormal occlusion and people with aggressive or over active personality type have an unstoppable habit of grinding their teeth.

Damage Caused By Bruxism

Some of the Bruxism cases may be mild, and thus need no intervention. However, when the frequency or intensity of Bruxism increases, it can lead to a few notable disorders such as damaged teeth structure, headache and jaw related disorders. Some of the common signs and symptoms of bruxism include teeth gnashing, which is many a time audible enough to awaken the one doing it or the sleep partner. The teeth of both the arches appear worn down, flatter than before, coupled with slight chipping too.

As the outer layer of enamel gets worn off, the sensitive layer gets exposed causing more dentinal sensitivity. In case of sleep bruxism, the patient usually wakes up, complaining of jaw ache and a tight feeling in the muscles of the jaw. The strong, muscular contraction jaw contractions can also trigger facial pain of a chronic nature and small indentations on the surface of the tongue.

Ways to Fix?Bruxism Clenching

Do Not Favour Stress

In moderate to severe cases of dental bruxism, stress management works as an effective form of therapy. Majority of individuals are completely unaware that they grind their teeth and clench their upper and lower teeth together whilst sleeping. When the body and mind is over worked or tensed, some people hold their jaw tightly. Thus, it is important to destress through techniques that range from regular exercise, daily session of meditation, deep breathing exercises, as well as yoga postures.

If work at home or office leaves you too drained on the physical front, take out some time to enjoy a warm bath. This helps relax the tired muscles and restores the lost mental or physical energy levels. Unwind and listen to the music of your choice (preferably of soothing nature) that puts your mind at rest.

Mouth Guard For Bruxism

Under a normal state, the maxillary and mandibular teeth are in contact for about 6 minutes each day. However, a bruxer has a habit of keeping the teeth in tight contact with the opposing teeth for hours each day. This is why such people experience dull ache. One cannot possibly instruct the mind not to encourage the teeth grinding activity at night.

This is where a night guard, also known as occlusal splints comes into play. It is worn at night, to forcefully prevent teeth from either dental arch from making a contact whilst sleeping.?Both prefabricated or custom made and partially or wholly covering mouth pieces can be used by the patient. There are several varieties of mouth guards available, depending on the sensitivity of the gums and the degree of bruxism.

Occlusal splints form the treatment of choice for protecting teeth as the wearer?s teeth are shielded from the premature wear sans the development of any significant adverse effect.?The flexible night guard is prepared, using clear acrylic resin and is worn either the upper and lower arch, depending on which dental arch bears more damage.?As these guards prevent the risk of surface damage and keep the muscles of the jaws relaxed, many patients prefer to wear it during the day, as well.

Hypnosis

This is a type of behavioural approach that has been closely reviewed for a long time. In fact, some of the bruxers state that they have found drastic improvement in the problem linked to sleep bruxism. Although not used often, this mode of treatment seems promising. The good news is that patients respond very well to Hypnotherapy.

Technique Used

Specific techniques are used by hypnotherapist, which vary from patient to patient, depending on the causative factors. Hypnotic suggestion is the most frequently used technique and involves induction of a relaxed, calm state of mind in the affected individual.

This allows the hypnotic suggestion practitioner to have access to the subconscious mind, thus making it easy to make the correct hypnotic suggestion. In other words, the mind is carefully programmed such that it becomes less responsive to stress, resulting in better relaxation and less bruxism.

Physical Therapy Exercises

In the quest to control the symptoms of bruxism, physical therapy exercise have been designed for tongue and jaw region. These exercises are targeted at improving the balance plus functional ability of the jaw. Here, are two of the exercises to follow.

The aim of this exercise is retrain the tongue and jaw so that both remain in the correct position. For this positioning exercise, one must close the lips. In the next step, slightly open the jaws in a controlled motion and practice positioning the tongue against the roof of the oral cavity (or palate). While you do so, your teeth as well as lips will not be in contact with each other. Repeat this exrcise till you get a hang of it. The altered tongue position makes it difficult to clench the teeth together.

Repeat The Alphabet ?N?

The other exercise promotes proper positioning of the tongue and jaw. Begin the exercise by placing the tongue just behind the upper front teeth (central incisors). This position assists in releasing the tension trapped within the jaw musculature. Start repeating the letter ?N? aloud. Do so in front of a mirror as it helps the patient realise the resting position of the tongue along with the jaw position in which the muscles remain neutral.

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Source: https://www.ayushveda.com/magazine/tips-to-stop-bruxism-clenching/

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