Victoria Street Dental Can Treat Brusixm

Bruxism is the fancy word for clenching and grinding of teeth. This is surprisingly common – up to six per cent of the population are "serious" grinders, with many more suffering from a milder version. The management of bruxism focuses on treating the underlying cause, where possible. Dentists will also need to repair any damage that has already been inflicted on your teeth – it is likely they will recommend X-rays to assess the condition of your teeth and jawbones.

 Bruxism is a common behaviour; reports of prevalence range from 8–31% in the general population. Several symptoms are commonly associated with bruxism, including hypersensitive teeth, aching jaw muscles, headaches, tooth wear, and damage to dental restorations (e.g. crowns and fillings) to teeth. But symptoms may be minimal, without patient awareness of the condition.

In some cases, chronic teeth grinding can result in a fracturing, loosening, or loss of teeth. The chronic grinding may wear teeth down to stumps. When these events happen, bridges, crowns, root canals, implants, partial dentures, and even complete dentures may be needed. Not only can severe grinding damage teeth and result in tooth loss, it can also affect your jaws, cause or worsen, and even change the appearance of your face.

In more severe cases, treatment may need to include a night-time mouth guard, known as an occlusal splint. These are designed to keep the teeth separated and avoid the damage caused by clenching and grinding. If malalignment of your teeth is a big issue, your dentist may also recommend correcting this with braces or equilibration techniques. Wearing a bite splint also can help relieve pressure on facial muscles and the jaw joint.

In terms of medication, sometimes short courses of muscle relaxants can be helpful. However, a longer term option, especially for severe bruxism, is regular injections with botulinum toxin – this paralyses the clenching muscles, allowing reduction of both symptoms and muscle size over time.

For prevention, reducing both stress and stimulants (such as alcohol and coffee) in the evening, practising good sleep habits and booking regular dental check-ups is good and easy advice to follow, so for more information on dentists Wellington, wisdom teeth removal, tooth extraction and dental crowns please go to http://www.victoriastreetdental.co.nz .