Are your teeth flattened, fractured, chipped, or loose? Has your enamel begun to wear out? Are you teeth increasingly more sensitive, and your jaw or face sore? Do you have a pain that feels like an earache, or a dull headache radiating from your temples?

If so, you may be one of the 62.8 million other Americans who suffers from a condition called bruxism, which is colloquially referred to as teeth grinding.

Bruxism is caused by mental and emotional issues. After all, teeth grinding is one of the body’s natural ways of dealing with stress, pressure, or any other breed of negative emotion. People who also suffer from a sleep disorder, like sleep talking, snoring, or sleep paralysis, are more likely to suffer from bruxism.

It can also be brought on by physical causes, too. Genetics, medication, misalignment, dehydration, and illness can all cause bruxism. Some people pick it up from their parents; some medications cause teeth grinding as a side-effect; poor teeth or jaw alignment can cause a person to inadvertently grind their teeth; dehydration can trigger bruxism episodes; and certain nervous system disorders can affect the body’s neural system, causing a person to grind their teeth.

Luckily, there are ways to treat bruxism. If it’s being caused by stress, then meditation or other relaxation problems can help. If it’s being caused a physical issue, such as misalignment, then dental guards can help. These oral health products are designed to keep separated to avoid damage caused by grinding. Often times, they’re made out of either soft materials or hard acrylic and can fit over a patient’s upper or lower teeth.

You may want to consider seeing your dentist if your teeth have become worn, damaged, or sensitive, if you have pain in your ear, face, or jaw, if others complain about grinding noises you make while you sleep, or if your jaw has trouble opening or closing.

If you have any questions about teeth grinding, feel free to ask in the comments. See this link for more references: www.dentek.com