| Clenching Your Teeth Can Cause Damage You May Not Feel for Years |
A good portion of the population clenches their teeth when they get stressed out or they are trying to focus on an important task. Do you fall into this group of people? You may not even realize it. This condition is called bruxism. It is when you either clench your teeth together, or grind them back and forth. It may not damage your teeth when you clench your teeth once or twice in a lifetime, but if you do it regularly, especially without realizing it, you could be looking at long-term damage to your teeth.
How Can You Tell if You Clench Your Teeth?
There are several ways of determining if you clench your teeth. First, when you come in and see us, we typically point out minor cracks in your teeth or flattened chewing surfaces. These signs show that your teeth are undergoing more wear and tear than usual. Second, you may wake up in the morning with a sore jaw. This often happens when your jaw has been held rigid for a good portion of the night, which is what happens when you clench your teeth. You may even wake up with headaches in your temples each day when you clench your teeth at night.
Bruxism does damage to your teeth, and the damage accumulates over time. The longer you clench your teeth, the more damage your mouth is taking. Over time, this is going to leave you with weakened enamel and a higher risk of broken teeth. If you suspect you may be clenching your teeth, come in and see us. We will examine your mouth and see what is the best route to correct the problem.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Can Meditation Help Improve Your Oral Health?
|
|
|
Meditation is known to help your body in many different ways. However, most people do not realize that it can also help improve their oral health. When a person is stressed out, their mouth is often more acidic and has a higher bacteria count than normal. This can harm your mouth, specifically your enamel. When a person is trying to focus, they may also clench their teeth without even realizing it. This is called bruxism. If you begin to meditate and keep yourself calm and focused, you can avoid both of these situations. Studies have shown that conscious relaxation (also called meditation) decreases bacteria in the mouth, neutralizes pH, and increases salivary flow.
Something as simple as meditating for 15 minutes each day can improve your oral health! It is pretty phenomenal that something as simple as sitting quietly and mentally telling every part of our body to relax can have such a profound affect! If it does all that for our mouths, how much more is it doing for the rest of our body?! *Mind Blown* - insert your favorite exploding head emoji here - ☺
- Jocelyn RDH |
|
|
| How Salt Water Rinses Help Your Mouth |
When you have any type of irritation or injury to the mouth, one of the most common recommendations is to rinse your mouth with salt water. There are several reasons for this. First, it cleans your mouth from nearly all types of bacteria by increasing the pH balance of your mouth temporarily. Second, it improves healing. Finally, it can also reduce the pain in your mouth from whatever is ailing it. When you combine these benefits, you create an environment that is more likely to heal with less pain than one that is not getting regular salt water rinses.
|
|
|
