Table of Content
How Long Does Teeth Grinding Pain Usually Last?
by Dylan Hao |
Teeth grinding is a common condition, usually seen in children but also present in about 1 in 4 adults.
Officially called bruxism, teeth grinding can happen during the day (awake bruxism) or in your sleep. You might not even know you’re clenching and grinding until you notice things like jaw pain, changes in your teeth and gums, or morning headaches.
Left alone, mild bruxism often goes away by itself. However, when the pain becomes hard to ignore, you want to know how much longer you’ll be dealing with it before it stops.
Should you be worried? Should you start looking into treatment options?
The answers depend on many factors, from what’s causing the bruxing to the actions you take throughout your day to minimize the pain (or accidentally make it worse!), and we’ll explain them here.
The Timeline For Teeth Grinding Pain
Best case scenario? Your teeth grinding symptoms go away by themselves in a few days, before you even have time to recognize there’s a problem!
Since bruxism is often related to stress, your jaw clenching behaviors could be directly linked to an upcoming event. Once it passes, the grinding (and the pain) could resolve itself.
But if you notice the symptoms last beyond a couple of weeks or longer than your stressful situation, you may be looking at long-term or chronic bruxism.
Certain characteristics of short-term, long-term, and chronic bruxism overlap; others are unique to each stage. Each stage's symptoms build into the next until the problem is resolved.
But the longer your teeth grinding goes on, the more serious the side effects become.
What Does “Short-Term Bruxism” Mean?
Those irritating symptoms of crunching or popping in your jaw and tightness in the neck muscles didn’t go away on their own.
That’s okay! With a little TLC, you can kick the problem to the curb within a week or two.
Short-term bruxism begins with early morning jaw pain and headaches that go away soon after waking up. Over-the-counter or natural anti-inflammatories and ice or warm packs could allow the overworked jaw muscles to relax and reset. Stress-relieving techniques, like listening to relaxation apps before bed or deep breathing, can also reduce grinding.
Be sure to give your jaw muscles a chance to rest while you’re awake, too. Avoid hard, chewy, and sticky foods. Try to minimize any lifestyle habits that stimulate or increase jaw use and grinding, including gum chewing and tobacco, alcohol, or illicit drug use.
Even if your symptoms go away quickly, you may develop them again. If that happens, you may want to talk to your doctor about what could be causing your teeth grinding behaviors and look into longer-term treatment options.
How Should I Manage Long-Term Teeth Grinding?
You tried to give your jaw a break, get in some extra relaxation, and do all the things that decrease bruxing symptoms, but here you are, a couple of weeks later, and the problem isn’t just still there — it’s worse!
It’s okay! Long-term bruxism doesn’t mean permanent grinding.
It does, however, mean that you have to step up your bruxism-reduction techniques. Some patients benefit from acupuncture for bruxism sessions, while others simply need to make lifestyle changes.
With ongoing grinding, you’ll notice soreness that stays with you throughout the day and consistently worsens. The every-night grinding is now showing up as daytime fatigue. Now, it’s time to start some serious bruxism battle plans.
Try a Night Guard
One of the first lines of defense people use to treat bruxism pain is a night guard. While you may be tempted to grab one at your local pharmacy, those OTC versions can do more harm than good. (Read More: Can a Night Guard Shift Your Teeth?) Because they’re not designed to fit your teeth precisely, they can put force on them, encouraging the jaw muscles to work harder to keep your bite in position.
Worst case, your teeth may shift, leading to misaligned teeth and other dental problems. A night guard from our JS Dental Lab professional experts gives you the benefits of a high-quality, custom-fit night guard without leaving your house!
Keep Following Good Habits
While protecting your teeth from grinding and clenching, you can get active, too. Keep using those short-term techniques, avoiding foods that cause your jaw to work too hard and habits that stimulate the jaw muscles. Try to include self-care activities in your schedule as often as possible to eliminate cortisol and other negative stress hormones.
Speak With Your Dentist
Talk to your doctor about what could be leading you to brux. You can always wear your night guard to avoid damaging your teeth and gums, but it won’t stop the bruxism behavior. That requires figuring out the underlying cause of your condition and taking care of that issue.
Is Chronic Bruxism Dangerous?
It’s easy to see how grinding your teeth together causes constant wear and tear on your dental health. Enamel erosion leads to cavities that need fillings, but the pressure of grinding can also chip and crack teeth.
Expensive dental treatments can help, but it would be better to avoid those problems in the first place!
Still, ignoring teeth grinding to the point it becomes chronic doesn’t only affect oral health. Although long-lasting grinding damages teeth, gums, and jaw muscles, the real problems go far beyond the mouth.
Sometimes, bruxism can damage the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). This small, delicate body part lets your jaw open and close, moving as a hinge and a slide.
When the TMJ is displaced, inflamed, or strained due to impact or injuries — which can include ongoing grinding — it can result in a painful TMJ disorder.
There are more than 30 types of temporomandibular joint disorders (TMDs), and treatment depends on the kind you have. In these situations, a specialist is often necessary to fix the delicate body part. TMDs are usually treated with physical therapy, muscle relaxants, and night guards designed to address jaw joint issues. In more severe cases, Botox can help.
Bruxism is also linked to medical conditions such as:
Ready to get a handle on your grinding before it becomes chronic? Let’s look at the common causes of bruxism and how you can treat each one.
Causes of Bruxism and How to Treat the Pain From Each
Bruxism is a co-morbidity. This means that it’s a condition occurring alongside other issues, and it’s not the primary disorder. Instead, there’s an underlying problem, and teeth grinding is a symptom of a larger concern.
Pinpointing the main cause helps you understand how to treat that condition, which should reduce your bruxism behaviors.
Stress and Anxiety
Mental health disorders like stress, anxiety, and depression are the number one cause of bruxism. When you feel upset, it causes muscle tension in the shoulders, neck, and jaw. Stress and worry activate your fight-or-flight response, and your brain releases stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol. Because of the added tension and hormone production, when you sleep, your body stays on alert, and this shows up as jaw clenching and teeth grinding.
Treating stress-related grinding can take time because we can’t always eliminate our stressors from our lives. Certain relaxation techniques — like yoga, meditation, journaling, and deep breathing — increase happy hormones and reduce stress hormones. Counseling is another effective method to help control stress.
While improving your mental health, wear a custom-made night guard to allow your jaw muscles to rest and prevent further damage to your body.
Genetics
We now know that bruxism can be inherited. Like your eye color and height, your ancestors may have passed down your risk factors for teeth grinding through your DNA. Specific genes and variants, like the 5HT2A gene that helps determine stress responses, may put you more at risk of developing bruxism.
If your grinding is genetic, you can still avoid much of the damage by consistently wearing a night guard.
Additionally, watch your diet and lifestyle habits to avoid:
- Eating sticky, hard, and acidic foods
- Chewing gum
- Using tobacco products
- Drinking excessive alcohol
- Using illicit drugs
These behaviors increase damage to your teeth even without bruxism, but they also stimulate the jaw muscles to grind and clench.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Similar Disorders
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and similar sleep disorders are frequently linked with bruxism. In OSA, a person struggles with maintaining a consistent airflow while sleeping. They experience micro-arousals, or apneas, where their airflow is restricted. During those apneas, the brain may subconsciously stimulate clenching and grinding to help reopen the airway.
OSA and related sleep disorders can be extremely dangerous, and even fatal.
If you think you may have this condition, talk to your healthcare professional about potential treatment options. You may need a splint to keep the tongue in position and the airway open.
Certain Medications
Some classes of medications include teeth grinding as a potential side effect. This behavior is believed to result from the medication's changes in the brain’s neurotransmitters, which are responsible for mood regulation, muscle activity, and movement.
These medication classes include:
- SSRIs and SNRIs - Antidepressants fall into two common categories: Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) and Serotonin-Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors (SNRIs). These medications affect the serotonin and dopamine levels in the brain and can increase jaw muscle activity.
- Stimulants - Any stimulant, including coffee and soda, boosts brain activity and muscle tension. ADHD medications do this to a person daily when they take their prescription, and teeth grinding and jaw clenching are common side effects.
- Antipsychotics - Some antipsychotic meds that affect dopamine pathways are linked to bruxism.
- Dopamine Agonists - Similar to antipsychotics, dopamine agonists affect the pathways, but are used to treat conditions like Parkinson’s disease. Teeth grinding is a frequent side effect of these medications.
If you believe your medicine is causing you to grind your teeth, talk to your doctor about potential options. Never stop taking medication without working with your healthcare provider.
A night guard is a simple and effective way to reduce teeth damage while treating your health concerns.
Why You Shouldn’t Ignore Your Grinding
Yes, bruxism can go away on its own — win!
But if your sore jaw and other symptoms of bruxism continue beyond a week or two, it’s time to get help fast. Remember, the sooner you tackle the issue, the less time you’ll be in pain because of it.
When you grind your teeth, the clenching puts pressure on the upper and lower teeth. Then the surfaces of the teeth slide across each other, wearing away the enamel. Slowly, the jaw muscles are so overworked that the tension extends to your neck and shoulders. You’ll notice morning headaches, neck pain, increased teeth sensitivity, earaches, and fatigue.
Bruxism is a side effect of a larger problem, but it doesn’t have to mess up your quality of life.
Stress management techniques, changes in lifestyle habits, and increasing your oral health care daily go a long way in preventing further grinding damage. Regular cleanings and exams with your dental professional are vital, since they allow your dentist to monitor your oral health for early signs of damage.
While you’re working on solving the cause of teeth clenching in your situation, invest in a custom-made night guard from JS Dental Lab. It’s the most effective way to minimize the damage to your teeth and facial muscles without extra effort!
Conclusion
Will you have to endure the pain of your teeth grinding forever? Definitely not!
The root cause of your sleep bruxism determines whether it’s an easily fixable problem or something that needs more serious treatment. But for most bruxers, a custom-made night guard quickly provides relief.
Wearing a professional-quality night guard, like those we offer at JS Dental Lab, will not stop the grinding, but it will allow your jaw muscles to relax while you sleep.
The result? Less stress on your neck and shoulders, less damage to your teeth, and better quality rest for you!
Start shopping our night guards today!
