Are you waking up with jaw or neck pain? Experiencing tension headache or unexplained tooth damage? You are not alone! The American Dental Association's post-pandemic survey found over 70% increase in stress-related teeth clenching since the on-set of COVID-19. Dr. Travis Lee of Ocean Breeze Dental Care has over 20-years experience in diagnosis and treatment of sleep or awake bruxism, involuntary teeth clenching and grinding with up to 250 pounds of force due to such factors as abnormal bite, missing or crooked teeth, stress, anxiety, depression or fear.
Common signs of bruxism are jaw or neck pain, tension headaches or unexplained damage to teeth. In addition to fracturing, eroding, loosening or loss of teeth, untreated bruxism can increase the risk of problems with the joint that connects the lower jaw to the skull (known as temporomandibular joint, TMJ) resulting in chronic jaw pain, difficulty chewing, popping or clicking noises or locking of the jaw.
Please contact our experienced dental health professionals at our General & Cosmetic Dental Practice in Los Angeles, CA 90025 if you are experiences any of these symptoms. Dr. Lee has provided compassionate and effective diagnosis and treatment of bruxism. In addition to correcting abnormal bite, missing or crooked teeth, Dr. Lee can create a custom-fit mouth guard (also known as night guards) to reduce the damage to the teeth and mouth that can occur because of bruxism. Serving as a barrier against the harmful impact of grinding, specially designed mouthguard properly cover just a section of teeth or cover a wider area to stabilize the mouth and jaw in a specific position and prevent clenching and grinding.
In the meantime, the helpful dental health team at Ocean Breeze Dental Care have a few tips to help you stop teeth grinding:
Cut back on foods and drinks that contain caffein
Avoid excess alcohol intake
Reduce chewing gum as it conditions your jaw muscles to become accustomed to cleaning and hence increase involuntary grinding of the teeth
Apply a warm washcloth against your check in front of your earlobe to relax your jaw muscles
Please contact us to schedule your consultation for a stronger and healthier you.
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