Bruxism is the unconscious habit of shaking, teeth grinding. It is a para function, ie it is not a true function of our mouth but derives from psychological causes, as well as chewing gum, bite his lip, nail biting, biting pens and pencils, etc.. Usually occurs during sleep, but when severe can also occur during the day and is caused by situations of high stress or tension, neurological diseases or certain medications.
The greatest damage caused by bruxism is caused to teeth and jaw bones, where it first occurs in a more or less strong wear and tear (including enamel) while in the latter, a failure of the structure, causing the mobility of the teeth.
In addition, the masticatory muscles become fatigued: the muscles of mastication should work 1-2 hours a day to chew foods to ingest and in addition to the normal acts of swallowing and oral communication should rest, especially at night; those who suffer from bruxism instead ago the masticatory muscles also work at night, with consecutive masticatory muscle soreness that can be extended to the muscles of the shoulders and neck causing back pain, stiff neck and / or headaches.
For those who are already suffering from bruxism, if the cause is a neurological disease can only recommend going to a good neurologist to be visited, but if the cause is a drug (some drugs cause side effects such as involuntary movement of certain muscles). It is best to talk to your doctor and ask if you can replace the drug with another or decrease the dosage.
If you want to prevent bruxism, or they are already suffering and the cause is stress, the best thing to do is take each day 20-30 minutes of time for themselves, for the care of the relaxation, a hobby or a nice walk in the company of the simple nature of friends or loved ones to talk!
Most of the times the fact bruxism is caused by long periods of stress and / or tension, that the body wreaks involuntarily on itself with the action of teeth grinding. Even having a pet to care can ease the tension because of bruxism, implementing the so-called pet therapy: animals give love, distract from problems and stress, allow us to decentralize our attention from ourselves upon them, and to do good to another living being giving us much satisfaction.
There is a removable device in transparent resin to prevent wear of the teeth for those who suffer from bruxism, this device is called bite: applying it to the upper teeth, prevents direct contact of the teeth during grinding and then wear them and the bite of the teeth is less harsh, and for that you consume, but the teeth no If the jaw is altered in granado even improve muscle activity of the mouth and the relationships between the various structures.
