Teeth grinding refers to the habitual or unconscious movement of teeth rubbing against each other during sleep or waking hours, or clenching teeth, or consciously doing these actions while awake, which can be accompanied by rattling sounds.
Emotional stress is the most common cause of bruxism. Fear, anger, hostility, resistance and other kinds of tension, if for some reason makes it difficult for the patient to vent in time, these emotions are periodically expressed in various ways in the subconscious, and teeth grinding is one of the ways to manifest. Therefore, it can be joked that there is "gnashing of teeth hatred". Children are overexcited during the day, and watching stimulating movies and television works before going to bed is also easy to cause teeth grinding.
At present, the medical community has not been able to confirm the physiological relationship between teeth grinding and mental stress, so the real cause of teeth grinding is not clear. However, recent studies believe that teeth grinding is not only related to mental factors, but also related to human emotions, dental factors, central mechanisms, parasites, occupations and other factors. The teeth bite each other in the same way as when chewing food, but the friction that occurs far exceeds the force required to chew the food.
If teeth grinding occurs occasionally, it generally does not cause other consequences.
Long-term teeth grinding can damage the enamel on the surface of the tooth, which in turn causes dentin hypersensitivity, making the tooth painful when it encounters cold, hot, sour and spicy. Intractable bruxism causes destruction of periodontal tissue, loosening or displacement of teeth, receding gums, loss of alveolar bone; Teeth grinding can make the face overtired, make the jaw joint and local muscles sore when eating and talking, and make a sound in the jaw joint when opening the mouth.
Because when people grind their teeth, the masticatory muscles will continue to contract, and over time, it will lead to thickening of the spinal masticatory muscles and enlargement of the lower end of the face, which in turn will change the shape of the face. Children who grind their teeth and are not corrected at an early age may have a habit of grinding their teeth throughout their lives.
The prevention and treatment of teeth grinding needs to take corresponding measures according to the cause of occurrence, and when it is light, it can be left without treatment, and pay attention to rest; Remove the mental factors that cause teeth grinding, and carry out psychological treatment; People with recalcitrant bruxism should have a jaw pad and wear it before bedtime to prevent direct wear and tear of the teeth.
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