Dentist Mahmut Genç, known as bruxism in medicine; Causes problems such as abrasion on the tooth surface, shortening of tooth length, and locking in the jaw in case of advanced bruxism; He gave information about the habit and treatment of clenching teeth, which can cause individuals to wake up more tired and sluggish by disrupting sleep quality, depression and loss of work force.
Bruxism is called clenching at night and sometimes even during the day. These people do not remember that they grind their teeth many times, but their relatives can warn them about this, or when they get up in the morning, there are contractions and pains in the jaw area.
Bruxism informs us of the existence of the problem by giving many valuable indications. Head, ear, jaw and face pain, tinnitus, noise when opening the mouth from the jaw joint, difficulty in opening the mouth, pain or jaw slipping are the most valuable symptoms of teeth clenching. Clenching problem may persist for years without clinical symptoms. In some cases, it can become acute and turn into a disease that gives the person very important hardships.
Problems caused by clenching
In acute bruxism, tooth shortening due to abrasion on the cutting edges of the teeth and very fine cracks on the tooth surfaces can be seen. In addition, cold-hot sensitivities may occur in patients due to the thinning of the tooth enamel tissue. In these patients, when there is no random trauma, cases such as tooth enamel fractures or the breakage of previous repairs are also encountered.
If you unknowingly squeezing or grinding your teeth, which may cause too much load on your jaw joint and facial muscles, it may cause permanent jaw joint disorders by causing joint deterioration in the future.
Teeth clenching and grinding treatment methods
The aim of bruxism treatment is to prevent permanent damage to the teeth and jaw joint and to eliminate pain. A splint, which has a protective feature, is used in the middle of the lower and upper jaw teeth to prevent the teeth from coming into contact with each other during sleep. However, night guards are often not enough on their own. For this reason, depending on the picture of the disease, it may be necessary to apply some additional treatments besides night guards. These are tension therapy in the middle, measures to provide comfortable sleep, application of muscle relaxants, restoration of wrongly made dental fillings and veneers, prosthesis applications to replace missing teeth.
Botox takes control of the masseter muscles, the largest jaw muscles that help us move our teeth. The effect of Botox injection varies according to its quality and from person to person, but it varies between 3 – 4 months and 6 – 12 months. In order not to restrict the movement of mouth and jaw functions, it should definitely be done by specialist dentists. When injections are made regularly, muscletrophies become less bulky and botox use may not be necessary over time. In addition, tension, which is the most valuable cause of clenching, must also be controlled.
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