Hello everyone, I am your old friend-stomatologist He Jianliang! This time we meet, we will talk about an interesting topic.
Have you ever woke up late at night and heard your partner or roommate grind his teeth?
When I was in college, a roommate had this kind of performance, that kind of gnashing teeth, in retrospect all felt thrilling.
Is it what who caused the night molars?
Is night molars related to roundworms?
What should I do if I grind my teeth at night?
… …
Cut the crap, now let’s learn about bruxism together!
Bruxism is not just about grinding teeth in the middle of the night.
Bruxism is not uncommon, and the incidence rate in normal population is between 8 and 31%. Different research results are also quite different.
In fact, there are two types of bruxism: one occurs during sleep and the other occurs during awakening. However, when awake, one may not grind one’s teeth [thumping], but grind one’s teeth tightly unconsciously.
Night molars and clenched teeth look different and are essentially similar (except that they cannot control themselves when asleep), so the hazards they cause are similar.
Is bruxism because there are roundworms in the belly?
There are various opinions among the people, the most widely circulated of which is that there are roundworms in their stomachs.
Therefore, when the baby grinds his teeth at night, an endless stream of parents will come to ask if there are roundworms in his stomach, and then take the baby to take [insecticide], but it cannot solve the problem.
In fact, modern sanitary conditions are good, digestive tract parasites have rarely appeared, and scientists have not found a causal relationship between roundworms and molars.
There are also some so-called [folk prescription] [earthwork], in the final analysis, it is probably people’s wishful thinking and good wishes!
Modern medicine cannot fully explain the cause of bruxism. The general explanation in textbooks is: [the cause of bruxism is unknown and may be related to physiology, spirit and heredity].
Do you feel like you didn’t say anything?
However, there are still some factors that may aggravate bruxism:
1. Stress:
Anxiety, anger, stress, depression… These tensions will aggravate bruxism; Some aggressive and competitive personality types are more likely to develop bruxism.
2. Age:
Children will have more bruxism, but it may decrease or even disappear with age. If the baby grinds his teeth at night, he can observe it first without treatment. It may be better if he is older.
3. Medicine and food:
Molars may be adverse reactions of some psychotropic drugs, such as some antidepressants; Smoking, drinking too much and drinking too much coffee may also lead to bruxism.
4. Occlusion:
Dislocated occlusion was once thought to cause bruxism, but it is still controversial. However, if the examination finds irregular teeth and occlusal disorders, corrective treatment will be good for chewing function even if it is not helpful for bruxism!
5. Heredity:
There is a certain genetic tendency and family aggregation.
What harm does bruxism have?
When we are quiet and do not eat, the upper and lower teeth are not occlusal, but gently separated. This is the rest and protection of teeth.
If the teeth continue to chew when they should rest, it will lead to two consequences: the wear of the teeth will increase and the muscles responsible for chewing will be tired.
Although the teeth are very hard, [as long as you work hard, iron bars will be ground into needles]. Even if the teeth cannot be ground into needles, they will become thinner and shorter. When the enamel outside the teeth is polished, sensitive dentin and even dental pulp (dental nerve) will be exposed, thus causing pain!
If you have experienced severe bruxism, you may feel pain in the front area of your ear and even wonder if there is something wrong with your ear. In fact, it is not. Long-term chewing work can cause muscle soreness and, in serious cases, mandibular joint wear, which is called [temporomandibular joint disorder].
Moreover, bruxism affects the partner’s sleep quality.
When should what see a doctor?
In general, mild bruxism does not require treatment, especially if there is no obvious tooth wear and no joint pain or headache during chewing. In this case, as long as the partner who sleeps with him has no problem, he can observe it first.
However, if the health has been damaged, you should go to a professional doctor. Since the exact cause of the disease cannot be found, in most cases only symptomatic treatment can be given.
For small partners who have suffered from severe tooth wear and joint discomfort, the [occlusal pad] can be used.
This is a soft silicone pad, which can be worn into the mouth like dentures to separate the upper and lower rows of teeth. In this way, the teeth cannot be ground and the joint stress will be reduced a lot.
However, if the teeth are worn and sensitive to pain, the worn parts should be repaired, and root canal therapy should be done if they cannot be repaired.