Bruxism Symptoms - Do You Have Bruxism Symptoms?

Teeth clenching is also known as bruxism. It puts pressure on the tissues, muscles, and other parts surrounding the jaw area. Although it is not a life-threatening disorder, the symptoms can lead to temporomandibular joint problems or TMJ. Frequent teeth grinding can also wear down the teeth and can be an inconvenience to your sleeping partner.

Aside from clenching the teeth, there are other bruxism symptoms including stress, tension, anxiety, depression, headache, eating disorders, sleeping disorders, sensitivity of teeth to cold, hot or sweet foods and beverages, painful or sore jaw, and earache. Earache can occur partly because the TMJ joint structures are located close to the ear canal. People with symptoms feel pain around the ear area and other locations. This pain is called referred pain.

Aside from psychological factors, symptoms occur when the person has dental disorders, ear disorders like ear infection, or innate temporomandibular joint or TMJ. People with a history of tension and stress can also exhibit signs of bruxism.

Here is a list of symptoms according to physical and psychological factors:

Physical symptoms include TMJ, muscle discomfort and aches, muscle pain or facial myalgia, shoulder pain, stiffness or tightness, ear ache, inability to open mouth widely, abnormal teeth wear, recession and inflammation of gums, untimely teeth loss, excessive tooth mobility, and obstructed or disrupted sleep of both the person and his or her partner.

Studies show that teeth grinding often cause headache. Individuals who exhibit these symptoms are most likely to feel headaches compared to people who do not have this problem. It is also said that people with long-term bruxism experience craniofacial pain compared to non-bruxists.

However, not all studies point out that the mentioned symptoms will likely be related to the problem. There is little study about the direct cause and effect relationship between these general symptoms and teeth grinding. For example, relentless TMJ discomfort can possibly result in depression rather than the other way around.

In case of small kids and children, this can be caused by overly large tonsils and adenoids. In addition, children are more easily awakened during sleep, which may or may not be a cause. There is one study that indicated that children with behavior issues and attention difficulties exhibit this problem. There is little study to support that the symptoms in children are caused by sleep apnea. Bruxism in children may be generally accounted for psychological factors and not sleep disorders or physical ailments or conditions.