Getting Out of the Daily Grind

By Dr Ansgar Cheng, Prosthodontist, Specialist Dental Group

Grinding can occur at any time. Night time teeth grinding usually occurs when we are falling asleep, dreaming, or when we are waking up. It is also common for children to grind their teeth at night. This is mostly self-limiting and the vast majority of children out-grow this phase. Day time stress is also another reason for grinding. When people are under stress, they generally do not sleep well.

Consequences 

Grinding of teeth over the long term may lead to accelerated wear on the teeth causing a reduction in the height of the lower face, speech problems, incapacity in chewing, loss of support to the lips and generally, an aged-looking face. It can also lead to jaw, oral and facial pain, and head & neck muscle pain.

Many times, patients who come to our clinic due to jaw joint problems turn out to be teeth grinders at night. Since moving to Singapore from Canada six years ago, I have been seeing more patients having symptoms associated with night time grinding, compared with my 11 years working in Canada. This is likely due to different lifestyles and higher level of stress from work in Singapore.

Solutions

• Keep teeth wear in check through regular dental visits.
• Manage other clinical symptoms when they arise. 
• Use a dental splint; and
• Try yoga and other forms of relaxation training.

In some cases, it may end up that the recommendation is to do nothing… Diagnosis is the key in all cases.

Specialist Dental Group is a corporate sponsor of the Canadian Association of Singapore (CAS). CAS members enjoy a special rate for dental services. For details, send an enquiry via  www.specialistdentalgroup.com  or call 6733 7883.