If you grind your teeth on a nightly basis, this is referred to as bruxism, and it could damage your smile. To avoid irritating your significant other and to prevent chipped teeth, you need a custom oral appliance. In today’s blog, your Prairie Village, KS, dentist talks about how we address issues like bruxism.
The Causes and Symptoms of Teeth Grinding
Teeth grinding can occur due to issues that upset your bite balance, such as untreated TMJ disorder, missing teeth, dental misalignment, wisdom tooth eruption, and issues with the growth and development of your jaw and oral structures. Injury to the face or jaw could be a factor as well. High stress levels can also be a contributing factor. When you suffer from bruxism, your significant other may let you know about your grinding episodes, otherwise watch for signs during the day, such as jaw and facial pain, headaches and migraines, and tooth sensitivity and toothaches.
Treating Your Bruxism
When you experience one or more of the symptoms we’ve discussed, or if we discover signs of wear and friction when you undergo an exam, we will carefully work to identify the cause and assess the severity of your bruxism. From there, we can create a personalized treatment plan. For some, we could correct misalignment with orthodontics, replacing missing teeth with a prosthetic, or use options like crowns or bonding to improve overall bite balance.
But in most cases, we will take detailed digital images and impressions of the smile to create a 3D model, one that enables us to custom-fit an oral appliance. The device will look and fit like a mouthguard and is worn while you rest. The device helps shift the jaw and also places a barrier between the upper and lower sets of teeth to prevent further damage. The device is simple to use and clean, and can travel with you too!
Repairing Dental Damage
If you have teeth worn down by grinding and clenching, or cracked or chipped tooth structure, then we can offer repair to improve bite balance and smile beauty. For minor damage, dental bonding can be done in one visit using the same composite resin as our tooth-colored dental fillings. For more serious injuries, we could cap the tooth with a durable and lifelike dental crown.
If you have any questions about how we diagnose and treat issues like bruxism, or if you would like to schedule a visit for an examination, then contact our team today. We want to keep your smile comfortable and healthy!
SCHEDULE YOUR NEXT VISIT TODAY
We’re ready to help you stop grinding and clenching your teeth to prevent damage to your smile, and we can often do so with a minimally-invasive treatment option. You can call Dr. Browne in Prairie Village, KS, at 913-901-8585.
