Stress and Teeth Grinding Are on the Rise – Time for a Night Guard?

Got stress? You’re not alone.

According to a recent Gallup poll, stress levels around the globe are at all all-time highs

It’s no wonder. If living during a pandemic wasn’t relaxing enough, with the constant threat of illness and death, there’s the war in the Ukraine and economic concerns, global warming, forest fires, etc. It seems that a culmination of stressful events around the world is causing more people to take this mounting stress out on their teeth!

How so? Dentists throughout the US are seeing an increasing number of patients with damaged teeth caused by teeth grinding and clenching. An American Dental Association survey found that 69% of dentists are seeing an increase in patients who grind or clench their teeth.

If you’re feeling a tad more stressed out lately, you too are most likely clenching, or grinding your teeth, but you don’t know it yet. Why? Because most of us grind our teeth when we sleep.

Here are 7 Signs That You Grind Your Teeth!

When you grind your teeth every night, you’re damaging the health of you teeth, as well as your budget to eventually fix them, and treat the damage – broken crowns, tooth fractures or cracks.

Fortunately, we can offer you something to protect your teeth from your stress levels. Our custom made night guards can save your teeth from you. They won’t help lower the daily stress going on around you, but they will protect the health of your teeth, your overall health, and maybe even your finances. Consider your night guard as good insurance from needing more serious, and costly, dental treatments down the road.

Stress is usually an instigator to chronic teeth grinding, but health related issues, such as TMJ disorder or sleep apnea, can cause grinding and clenching issues too.

If you’re noticing any of these signs of teeth grinding, please ask us how a night guard can work for you. There may be other options like Invisalign that can also fix an orthodontic issue that perpetuates your teeth grinding.

Just call us to schedule a teeth grinding consultation at (206) 242-0066 or request an appointment online! We’ll diagnose the cause of your teeth grinding and develop a plan to protect your teeth, so that you can stop damaging them, and get a better night’s sleep too – as will anyone else who sleeps next to you!