Bruxism or teeth grinding can impact the quality of your life. It might be natural to grind teeth occasionally, but you can experience far-reaching consequences if it is persistent. You can visit a dental clinic to address the condition. Otherwise, you might experience jaw pain and headache. More importantly, you might not even realize that you grind your teeth at night since it happens when you are asleep. However, you can take preventive measures if you notice you’re grinding your teeth or if someone from your household has mentioned they can hear a grinding sound from you at night.
You can address bruxism at home by making changes in your daily habits. Some exercises can also be helpful. However, you can visit a dental clinic when it becomes explicitly persistent. Here are a few ways to stop teeth grinding and get quality sleep at night.
Practice Yoga & Exercises
In most cases, bruxism does not happen due to medical conditions. You might have this condition because of the excess stress in your life. A helpful method to alleviate stress is to practice yoga and meditation. You can practice some exercises and yoga whenever you feel stress bubbling up to the surface, and it will relax your mind, and you might not experience teeth grinding at night. When you learn techniques to calm your nerves, you can adopt them into your daily routine and utilize them when you feel anxious.
Know When You Are Grinding
Some cannot notice when they start grinding their teeth. However, you can make a conscious effort to know when it happens and try to find the source with careful observation. According to medical experts, stress, age, and certain medications can induce teeth grinding. When you find the source of why you’re grinding your teeth, you will be able to find a solution with the help of your dentist or your primary physician.
Avoid Aggressive Chewing
Although you may not realize it when you’re eating a meal, you might be chewing your food in an aggressive manner that may induce your nighttime grind. And while such facts may elude those who grind their teeth at night, chewing foods can actually aggravate this condition. Hence, you can avoid chewing foods. Chewing foods will require more chewing and wear out your jaw and they will also contribute to your grinding. You can stop these repetitive motions if you want to avoid grinding your teeth at night.
Relax Your Mind Before Retiring to the Bed
When life inevitably becomes stressful, it can make you grind your teeth without even realizing it. However, when you remain busy throughout the day and ignore all that stresses you, you tend to push any anxieties you have to the back of your mind and focus on the task at hand. When you retire to bed, you might revisit the things you have done throughout the day. Any negative experience will dominate your mind and make you stressed. The impact will be more if you sleep with that feeling. Hence, relax your mind and body before sleeping. There are many ways to achieve this. You can take a warm bath and apply a warm towel and heating pad to your jaw muscles. But avoid consuming any caffeine since it might keep you alert and stay awake enough to revisit your daily stressors. Make sure you do not have any stress or negative feeling while sleeping. It will reduce teeth grinding and improve the quality of your sleep.
Use a Mouthguard
You can use a mouthguard when the above practices do not offer any benefits. You can wear a mouthguard to protect your teeth since constant grinding can impact your dental health. It will wear down the enamel, and you might get cavities. However, you can use a custom-made mouthguard and consider having it from an experienced dentist.
These are a few ways to stop teeth grinding at night. You will have to find the source to get a lasting solution. Also, you can consult a dentist if you have some health issue that causes teeth grinding. Manage your stress with healthy habits and exercises and eliminate the causes that lead to such conditions.