5 Tell-Tale Signs You Are Grinding Your Teeth At Night

1. You wake up with headaches, or jaw pain/soreness, earaches, facial soreness, teeth pain

If you awake only to find that your mouth is killing you, you may very well be grinding or clenchingyour teeth at night (particularly, if your teeth ache and your jaw hurts). Both clenching and grindingcan cause not only dental damage to your teeth, but irritation to the muscles in your head and neck.There are a variety of factors that can be inducing this bruxing action. Stress is always high on thelist and the effects are something you should take very seriously. People across the globe are losingtheir teeth by wearing them down and cracking them. Cosmetic restorations are very expensive. Afull mouth restoration can cost between $30,000-$60,000.

Think about it. You have 32 teeth in your head (well, give or take a few). A root canal for 1 tooth(which is often a must-have if you crack your tooth) can cost anywhere from $1000-$1500. You canprotect your pearly whites by wearing a simple, thin clear guard. Night Guards also will alleviatesome or all of that jaw pain/muscle irritation and headaches. Be smart. Protect your teeth.

2. Your back teeth are flat as a horses back OR they look like they have little "pot holes" on them.

It's hard for us to really see changes in our own dental anatomy. It would be helpful to have a"before" and "after" picture of our teeth to see exactly what kind of damage we're doing. It's almostlike when we gain weight and we don't realize HOW much we've gained until we see a picture andthink "wow, that's really me?"

This is why you need to be aware of your teeth. Pay attention to any changes in your dental anatomy.Enamel is tough. It takes a lot of clenching and grinding over a long period of time to do significantdamage. Because of this drawn out period of wearing down, we often don't even notice. So look inthe mirror and check out your teeth surfaces. Do you have shorter looking front teeth than youremember? Or fracture lines (a dentist will be able to see these little lines in the teeth). You maynotice that your back teeth are flat or have little pits on them (as seen in the reference picture).Look carefully at your molars. Do you see anything that resembles a "pot hole"? This is a goodindication you are grinding.

3. You have chipped teeth that fit together like a jig-saw puzzle

As mentioned above, tooth enamel is incredibly tough. It's the hardest substance in the human body!Even harder than our bones! So it can stand a lot of wear and tear but teeth grinders can also bereally tough on their teeth. Research has proven that while we sleep, we can grind or clench downon our teeth with up to 130x the force we use during the day to do things like chewing our food orgum. So as you can imagine, if you're cracking teeth, you're really doing some intensegrinding/clenching while you're snoozing.

If you think you have cracked a tooth, it's important to seek treatment quickly. Unfortunately, ifyou're already to that stage, you will need some endodontic treatment along with cosmeticrestoration. You will also need a night guard to protect against any future damage.

4. You chew on things during the day (i.e.: pencils, gum, etc.)

First thing, stop chewing gum. Stop chewing pencils for that matter! Easier said than done I know,but gum is really bad for teeth grinders--yes, even ADA approved gum. The constant chewing isreinforcing the habit. If you're actively and voluntarily chewing on things during the day, you're evenmore likely to continue that motion into the night. You're chewing on things during the day and as aresult "toughening" your jaw muscles to where they are very strong and very tight. This canencourage your jaw muscles to want to go through that grinding motion because it's used to it. Stopit! Ease your jaw muscles during the day, relax and the urge to grind your teeth may lessen.

5. Your Dentist Has Told You So

"Ah say Ah Say I don't grind my teeth!"

It always amazes me how many people swear that they're not grinding their teeth at night. I askthem "How do you know? You're asleep!" The list of reasons range from "my jaw doesn't hurt in themorning" to "my husband/wife would hear me" to "I make myself sleep with my mouth open". Oneguy recently told me that he takes medications that dry his mouth out and as a result, he sleeps withhis mouth open so he knows for a fact that he is NOT grinding or clenching his teeth.

Truth is, guys, you don't know. You can't possibly know. But a dentist knows. So, if a dentist saysthat you grind your teeth, please believe them. They can see things you can't.

Also, here's something you should know. Bruxing (teeth grinding) is not an action that occurs allnight long. Typically, it happens in these short, intense bursts. So you may not be grinding/clenchingyour teeth 80-90% of the time, but if you're doing it 10% of the time, you're suffering from Bruxism

(and potentially, all the not-so-lovely effects).

The Good News

Armor for your teeth

You can literally save hundreds of dollars by ordering your custom sleep guard online. Instead ofhaving to go to a dentist and get a dental impression taken of your teeth, you can simply place anorder via internet and have a dental impression kit sent to your home. The kit consists of somemixing putty and a plastic tray. It's very simple. You take your own teeth impression, place it in thepre-paid mailer and send it back to the lab. The lab will construct the same exact custom night guardyou would have paid hundreds of dollars for in-office, for a fraction of the cost.

Too good to be true? Check out Sentinel Mouthguard Company reviews online!