Teeth grinding or bruxism is a very common problem. It usually takes place when the person is asleep but can happen during the day, the person may catch themselves grinding teeth or clenching the jaw. This puts the jaw muscle and joint under stress which leads to facial muscle pain, headache and wear of teeth. Muscle pain can be dull pain to severe and feels like nerve pain. Joint becomes dysfunctional which shows in the form of clicking or noise and limited mouth opening. It happens at a subconscious level, which makes it difficult to control
What's the treatment?
Night guards have been used and still, as the treatment of choice. Daily use of night guards protects teeth and help reduce stress on muscles and joint. These custom made devices are made of flexible material to help absorb forces of grinding and protect the teeth from being under high pressure during subconscious action of grinding or clenching.
Some people don't like night guards or find it difficult to commit to nightly wearing it.
Is there another option to treat teeth grinding?
Luckily there's Botox, a very powerful muscle relaxant and it's used successfully to treat muscles of mastication. Injecting those muscles results in long term effects that last up to 6 months. Muscles of mastication in long term grinders appear bulky giving the face an angular shape. Botox help slim the muscles and so slim the lower half of the face.
If that's something that might be of interest to you or if you have questions and would like to know more about it, give us a call at (519) 668-7635