Despite incredible advances in dentistry over the past 30 years, dentists face a new challenge to their success in managing and treating your bacteria-related oral health problems: stress! Doctors consider stress to be a cause (or at least factor) to not only cardiovascular, autoimmune and mental diseases, but also dental issues. While stress related dental problems were known to ancient societies thousands of years ago, recent upturns in stress levels among people are making these oral health issues much more common. Stress may affect dental health in several different ways:
- Immunity: Stress can reduce the body’s immunity to disease by changing the production of the normal inner steroid from the suprarenal glands. This produces a malfunction in our cells. They are unable to oust foreign bodies like bacteria when they invade the body. Since immune cells are the body’s first line of defense, this is not good. As a result, gingivitis and gum disease are likely to develop among stressed individuals. Forms of tooth decay are also commonly reported in stressed patients.
- Grinding and Clenching: Most grinding and clenching occurs during sleep, so a large percentage of grinders and clenchers don’t even realize they are doing it. Grinding and clenching increase the frequency of contact between the upper and lower teeth, especially at night. While upper and lower teeth are typically in contact 20-30 minutes each day, those who clench and grind make upper-lower contact several hours a day. While this habit, called buxism, may be annoying, it may also lead to dental health issues such as:
- Headaches: Tenderness, fatigue, and spasm in the muscles of the face and neck, which may result in headaches.
- TMJ: Damage to the temporomandibular joint in front of the ear. TMJ may cause minor problems like clicking when opening and closing the mouth, or may present more severely by preventing the lower jaw from functioning properly
- Distortion: If clenching and grinding become chronic, the cheek muscles may enlarge or swell, which can result in facial distortion
- Teeth Filing and Cavities: Not only may grinding and clenching cause teeth to be filed down, smooth v-shaped cavities may develop resulting in tooth sensitivity
- Fractures: Damage to the gums causes teeth to move more freely and ultimately can cause tooth fractures. Additionally, dental restorations like crowns an bridges are at risk of fracture
How do you treat grinding and clenching? Depending on the severity of the case, Dr. Brusco may offer you options such as night-mouth guards, muscle relaxants, mouth rehabilitation, orthodontics,bite adjustment, muscle exercises and medications.