 |
Bruxism,habitual clenching and grinding of teeth. Although Bruxism is not a disease it is a sleep disorder. It is a very common sleep disorders: 30 to 40 million Americans grind their teeth during the night.
The exact causes are unknown. In adults, psychological factors seem to be associated with bruxism, including: Anxiety, stress or tension Suppressed anger or frustration Aggressive, competitive or hyperactive personality type Bruxism often affects persons with nervous tension such as anger, pain, or frustration, and/or persons with aggressive, hurried, or overly competitive tendencies. During sleep teeth grinding takes place as much as 40 minutes per hour with a force of about 115kg force. In comparison while eating, the teeth contact about 20 minutes per day at 18 kg force. Testing bruxism. A device called the BiteStrip can test bruxism and help diagnose it before damage appears on the teeth. Be aware that grinding teeth can easily ruin your dental work. The following treatments can be used: 1. behavior modification 2. mouthpiece 3. biofeedback 4. medicine 1. Behavior modification Meditation and relaxation techniques. Sufferers may find that meditation and relaxation techniques, reduce stress, may help to reduce teeth grinding 2. Mouthpiece My dentist fitted me with a made-to-order mouth guard for $350.00 After using it for a couple years on and off, my symptom vanished. However, not everybody is so lucky.
One can buy over-the-counter mouth guard for as little as $20.00 but it is only better than nothing. These guard can cause irreversible damage to the bite. 3. Biofeedback Several biofeedback devices are available that, as of 2007. There are only anecdotal evidences that they are of some use. The Oralsensor which comprises a pneumatic pouch embedded in a soft plate that fits over upper or lower teeth. When the teeth come together to a threshold pressure set each night by the user—an alarm is sounded in an earpiece worn by the user.
The GrindAlert, is a battery-powered device that sounds a tone when it senses) muscle activity in the temporalis muscles of the forehead. This device delivers nightly data on the number of bruxism events and its duration. The volume of the alarm and the sensitivity are adjustable.
A patented device in 2005 monitoring teeth clenching. When night time bruxism occurs, people breathe through the nose. The device forces people to breathe through the mouth; thus, by forcing the opening of the mouth, the device is claimed to stop clenching.
Another device monitors the electric activity of the jaw muscle via wireless electrodes. These electrodes transfer jaw-muscle activity by radio frequency to an external monitoring system. When a patient clenches the monitoring unit sends a radio frequency signal to a transceiver integrated in a mechanical actuator. The mechanical actuator has two occlusive flaps that block the nostrils, forcing breathing through the mouth. Once the patient stops clenching the flaps open, allowing breathing through the nose again. The occlusive device does not wake up people since it blocks nostrils slowly, and it never closes them completely to avoid sleep disruption.
Medications. In general, medications aren't very effective for treatment of bruxism. In some cases, your doctor may suggest taking a muscle relaxant before bedtime. Botulinum toxin (Botox) injections may help some people with severe teeth grindin that hasn't responded to other treatments.
Vitamin supplements There is limited evidence for taking vitamin supplements may alleviate bruxism. Luckily, in most cases, bruxism can be successfully treated.
|
