If you grind your teeth on a nightly basis, this is known as bruxism. If you have headaches and a clicking in your jaw, this could be due to TMJ disorder, also known as TMD. For these jaw joint disorders, we could provide relief with a custom oral appliance. In today’s blog, your Mansfield, TX, dentist talks about putting a stop to chronic teeth grinding and TMD!
TMJ Disorder and Bruxism
With TMJ disorder, pressure on your jaw joints could cause a disorder to delve that leads to issues opening and closing your mouth. With bruxism, teeth brushing and clenching could wear down and damage your teeth. While these are separate disorders, one often leads to the other, and they have similar factors behind them. For both, symptoms could occur due to misalignment, injury to the face or jaw, tooth loss, high stress levels, or issues with the growth of your bite or the eruption of the teeth. Wisdom tooth eruption could be a factor too. Symptoms to watch for include clicking or pain in the jaw, headaches and migraines, face aches, and toothaches and tooth sensitivity. Don’t ignore these symptoms!
The Risk of Damaged Teeth
Over time, the pressure on your bite from the disorders could wear down outer enamel, changing the appearance of the teeth so they appear shorter. The outer enamel could be chipped and cracked too. These injuries may be minor, but they can increase the risk of tooth decay and dental infection, leading to discomfort in your bite and also a risk of tooth loss with time. To help protect your smile, we can offer relief with an oral appliance. In addition, with dental bonding we can treat minor damage in only one visit, and our team could address more severe injuries and worn down teeth with a custom dental crown!
Help with an Oral Appliance
The oral appliance is a device that will look and fit in your mouth like a simple nightguard. However, this has been custom-fitted for your bite and is worn while you sleep. When in place, this helps fit the bite to ease stress and strain on the jaw joints, providing relief from TMJ disorder. The same appliance also places a soft barrier between the sets of upper and lower teeth to prevent further damage, so you avoid the risk of cavities and negative changes to your smile’s appearance. The appliance is then easy to use and clean, and can travel with you during your hectic holiday season!
Our Team Offers Treatment for TMD and More
We want to take on your teeth grinding and clicking jaw to provide relief. To learn more about our approach to treating grinding and clenching, or schedule your appointment, call our Mansfield, TX, dental team today at 817-473-6227.
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