Teeth Grinding (Bruxism): Causes & Treatments

Bruxism, also known as teeth grinding, occurs normally regardless of age. However, if this happens regularly, it can cause major damage to your teeth.  The most common causes are malalignment, stress and anxiety. In some cases, it can be due to a side effect from medication or a traumatic brain injury.

Teeth grinding often occurs whilst you’re asleep therefore it is not noticed unless the person who sleeps next to you is disturbed by the sound.  Possible symptoms include a sore jaw that is generally felt in the morning or a dull, constant headache. Sensitivity to hot or cold foods may also be a subtle sign of grinding.

If this condition is left untreated, it can lead to wearing down and or the loosening of teeth. Fracturing or even loss of teeth may also occur.  In severe cases, it can lead to temporomandibular joint damage, a condition affecting the movement of the jaw. This will restrict you from chewing normally and may cause immense pain. It is therefore extremely important for you to see a dentist immediately if you are a bruxer.

If you are in the early stages of this condition, your dentist will recommend that you use a nightguard every night. This will help prevent further damage to your teeth as it serves as protection against the clinching down on and grinding of upper and lower teeth.

If you have severely worn down your teeth by grinding, you need to see your dentist immediately for restorative work and a nightguard. There are a variety of cosmetic procedures that can assist in perfecting your teeth again. If applicable, the following treatments can be considered if a nightguard is worn nightly thereafter, crowns, composite veneers or porcelain veneers for teeth that are slightly worn down and implants as a last resort for those that have teeth that have been completely damaged. A thorough consultation with a dentist will confirm what treatments are suitable for your case.

Here at Silver Oaks, we have been treating bruxer’s for many years. Check out our website to see testimonials as well as before and after pictures of patients with similar cases.

Digital VS Traditional Impressions

In the 21st century with so many new advancements in dental technology, we can truly say that digitally taken impressions have made the biggest difference for many dentists and dental practices. This gives patients a more relaxed and less time consuming treatment at the dentist.

 

The traditional approach

For many patients having dental impressions done can be very unpleasant. Patients with a strong gag reflex struggle with the entire procedure. There’s nothing worse than those three to six painful minutes waiting for the “alginate rubber material” (gooey substances) to set. For many decades traditional impressions were needed for crowns, bridges, veneers, bleaching trays, and not forgetting night guards.traditional impression

Digital impressions using an IOS scanner

Digital impressions are taken with an intraoral scanner (IOS) using optical light technology as its source to scan the soft and hard tissue within the mouth.  The IOS scanner digitally captures clear and highly accurate impressions within seconds. With a digital scanner, patients will not feel uncomfortable and have a gagging reflex or throw up when impressions are being taken.

digital impressions

Benefits of digital impressions

  • Digital impressions avoid the discomfort these traditional impression materials can cause patients, such has gagging or even throwing up.
  • No more awful taste left in your mouth after having impressions taken.
  • Patients save time in chair with their dentist as they do not need to wait for the alginate substance to take form or set.
  • While scanning we can immediately find errors or missed areas.
  • Digital impressions can be stored electronically which contributes to our recordkeeping and the POPI act.
  • Much more accurate than conventional impressions
  • Easy to send to dentists (Specialists around the world)
  • Forms part of a fully digitally integrated dental clinic such as Silver Oaks Dental
  • Integrates fully and immediately into the DSD protocol.

How To Stop Snoring

How to stop snoring? is a question we often get asked.

Is your spouse driving you crazy with their snoring?

Snoring can wreak havoc in a marriage. Most people lack the needed 8 hours of sleep.

how to stop snoring

sleep apnea

You Don’t Need To Suffer Anymore

Up to 40% of the population in industrialized countries snore. The question ‘How to stop snoring has become an important one for people in these countries.

The decreasing muscle tone during the sleep causes a narrowing of the upper respiratory tract. This narrowing accelerates the respiratory airflow, thereby various structures in the area of the upper respiratory tract start to vibrate and cause the snoring noise. So snoring is a mechanical process that can be counteracted mechanically.

Abnormal Snoring Is Dangerous

Here the dental therapy comes into action. Light or primary snoring do not have consequences on health whereas the rhonchopathy, the abnormal snoring, does. Here the question ‘How to stop snoring is more important than ever.

We recently had one of our patient’s phone in to East Coast Radio asking for a solution to her very loud snoring/sleep apnea. The patient could not go on holiday with her friends and family or have anyone sleep next to her due to her very loud snoring. This made it difficult socially for her and made her feel all alone.

Snoring Prevention – How to Stop Snoring

Our solution was the Silensor-SL snore guard.

The patient had a snoring app on her phone that measured her snoring in decibels. She put on the phone app then went to sleep and measured her snoring before Silensor-Sl snore guard and after Silensor-Sl snore guard. She was amazed by the results. Her snoring completely stopped after using Silensor-Sl.

Sleep Apnea is, at a certain level of severity, a serious disease, that may cause not only sleepiness during the day but also serious systemic diseases.

The snore guard called Silensor-Sl can change you and your spouse’s life. Feel free to chat to Dr Huson about the snore guard.

The benefits of the Silensor snore guard are:

  • They are a custom fit dental anti-snoring device.
  •  Clinically proven to help stop snoring. No more sleepless nights
  • Manufactured by experienced personnel
  • Individually custom made to fit your mouth
  • Slimline, Lightweight and comfortable to wear.

The Silensor-sl can be expected to be very successful since in almost all cases the noise involved in snoring is caused by constriction of the airways. Because of its compact design, the device does not inhibit breathing through the mouth.

With severe corpulence a good success of the treating, however, is doubtful. The effectiveness will thus be increasingly reduced at a BMI (body-mass-index) of more than 30.

The Silensor-sl cannot be used with edentulous patients and should only be fixed to a partial denture which has adequate retention. It is up to the dentist to assess whether or not residual teeth provide enough retention.

Call us now to learn more about this device.