Bruxism

Definition

Bruxism is when you clench or grind your teeth.

Clenching means you tightly hold your top and bottom teeth together, especially the back teeth. Clenching puts pressure on the muscles, tissues, and other structures around your jaw. This can lead to jaw pain and soreness, headaches, earaches, damaged teeth, and other problems. The symptoms can cause temporomandibular joint problems (TMJ).

Grinding is when you slide your teeth back and forth over each other. This can wear down your teeth. Grinding can be noisy enough at night to bother sleeping partners. Like clenching, grinding can lead to jaw pain and other problems.

Alternative Names

Causes

People can clench and grind subconsciously during both the day and night, although sleep-related bruxism is often the bigger problem because it is harder to control.

The cause of bruxism is not completely agreed upon, but daily stress may be the trigger in many people. Some people probably clench and never feel symptoms. Whether or not bruxism causes pain and other problems may be a complicated mix of factors -- how much stress you are under, how long and tightly you clench and grind, whether your teeth are misaligned, your posture, ability to relax, diet, sleeping habits, and other factors. Each person is probably different.