Is There a Homeopathic Remedy for Teeth Grinding?

Do you sometimes wake up with a headache or pain in your jaw area for no apparent reason? Do your teeth hurt, but you don’t have any cavities?

These symptoms are standard with a dental condition called bruxism. It’s a fancy name for the action of grinding or clenching your teeth when you sleep. 

Most people with bruxism don’t even realize they have it until it starts to cause painful problems. Once the symptoms begin to develop, though, they’re usually difficult to ignore. 

What to Do if You are Grinding Your Teeth

If you think you’re clenching and grinding in your sleep, the first thing you need to do is to understand the condition and its risk factors. Bruxism is a sleep disorder that usually comes hand-in-hand with other problems, so you shouldn’t ignore it.

You can’t control what you’re doing when you sleep. Luckily, there are techniques you can try to reduce the complications that come with teeth grinding.

Since medications haven’t been effective in treating bruxism, experts have found other ways to help reduce the problem. 

Working with your doctor to correct any conditions causing the condition is an important step. However, you can also find a homeopathic remedy for teeth grinding and use special equipment provided by your dentist.

This guide will help you understand why you’re grinding your teeth and what you can do to prevent it.

What Causes Bruxism?

Bruxism is a sleep movement disorder that isn’t fully understood yet. However, we know that the causes can be genetic, physical, psychological, or a combination of any of the three.

There are two types: awake bruxism and sleep bruxism. 

Awake vs. Sleep Bruxism

With awake bruxism, the person tends to clench their jaw when they feel strong emotions. If they’re nervous, anxious, angry, or frustrated, this jaw clench is an unconscious reaction. However, it can also be a habit developed over time as they are in deep concentration.

Everyone has an automatic muscle tension reaction to stress. It’s a type of reflexive response your body uses to prepare for an injury or painful stimulus. 

People with awake bruxism take this a step further and tense their shoulders, neck, and jaw muscles. All of this tension together eventually builds up into tight muscles, strain, and discomfort.

Sleep bruxism isn’t due to stress or habits. It’s sleep-related and usually attributed to the person’s unconscious actions that resemble chewing motions.

This problem can go on for a long time before you notice and address it. In the meantime, the behavior creates health issues like TMJ/TMD (pain and swelling in the temporomandibular joint), earaches, neck pain, and toothaches.

 

Symptoms of Teeth Grinding

Not everyone will have symptoms that scream, “You’re grinding your teeth!” You may have a mild case you write off as occasional headaches or neck and jaw pain. 

As the problem worsens, though, you’ll probably notice those “once in a while” annoying headaches or pains become regular. 

How Can You Tell You’re Grinding Your Teeth

Unless you have a sleeping partner who alerts you to the behavior, bruxism is hard to diagnose yourself. 

To narrow down grinding of teeth versus other medical conditions, such as sleep apnea, check for symptoms like these:

• Soreness in the facial area
• Chronic headaches, usually when you wake up
• Earaches
• Jaw muscle stiffness or pain often extended into the surrounding muscles
• Fatigue and difficulty staying asleep — both you and your partner

Your dentist will be able to catch specific symptoms faster than you, such as the gradual wearing down of your teeth enamel. Grinding your teeth for long periods erodes the tooth. This may cause pain, increased sensitivity, loss of fillings, and broken teeth. 

However, to get to this type of damage, the problem would have to be severe. 

If you talk to your dentist about your symptoms, they will probably pinpoint teeth grinding quickly and suggest a dentistry bruxism treatment. 

Homeopathic Remedies for Teeth Grinding

One of several issues may cause teeth grinding. The root of the problem often leads to the method of correction. 

For instance, if your grinding is stress-related, treatments that help you relax are most likely to help.

Standard methods used for stress reduction include things like: 

• Scheduling regular massages 
• Aromatherapy with the use of essential oils
• Meditation and breathing techniques 
• Antidepressants to help you deal with anxiety and frustration 

Since bruxism is related to tense muscles, all of these therapies are beneficial.

When the problem is related to a physical condition, finding a solution that promotes better health care may stop the grinding.

Seven Natural Remedies That May Reduce Teeth Grinding

Overall wellness through exercise and vitamins benefits your whole body. Adding certain supplements, like vitamins B and D, to your daily routine reduces the symptoms as your body heals.

To treat the issues when they arise or prevent them, you don’t necessarily need prescription pain medication. Studies have shown that the use of certain homeopathy medicines can be effective in reducing teeth grinding and its side effects. 

As a disclaimer, you should always chat with your dentist or medical provider before making any health-related decisions. 

That said, ask them their thoughts about using these seven natural substances as part of your bruxism treatment:

Phytolacca decandra 

When you use Phytolacca decandra with care, this homeopathic remedy can help reduce discomfort and swelling in the joints and other tissues. 

However, it is a close relative of the poisonous plant Phytolacca americana, also known as the pokeweed plant. 

Plantago

A plant that people have used medicinally for thousands of years, Plantago promotes anti-inflammatory response in the body. 

It can reduce symptoms of pain caused by inflammation in bruxism and other conditions.

Arsenicum album 

Don’t let the name scare you. Arsenicum album is in the ‘arsenic’ family. But when you use it correctly, this element is beneficial in medical treatments for anxiety. 

If the side effects of your bruxism condition are causing you to be restless or anxious, the arsenic album is a natural remedy that could help. 

Belladonna

This plant also has negative connotations attached to it, but it may surprise you how frequently medical and wellness products use it. 

Belladonna is used in eye drops to dilate your pupils at the optometrist. You can use it as a supplement and in the form of motion sickness patches. But it is toxic to ingest. 

Belladonna is used regularly in treatments for Parkinson’s Disease, chronic headaches, and severe stomach issues. It can also reduce the symptoms of your bruxism.

Tuberculinum 

Officially called Tuberculinum bovinum, this medicine is from the bovine, or cattle. It comes from a strain of bacteria that often infects cows.

It might sound fishy, but doctors initially used the medicine to prevent tuberculosis. Now, people across the globe use it to reduce inflammation of the skin and improve specific psychological issues such as depression, irritability, and insomnia. 

These are common side effects of bruxism, making Tuberculinum a homeopathic treatment doctors frequently use.

Chamomilla

This remedy comes from the herb corn feverfew. It’s related to chamomile, which is a common herbal relaxant. Chamomilla, on the other hand, is used to reduce symptoms of pain.

The herb is gentle enough for infants to use when they’re teething. It interacts with your body to raise your pain tolerance, so you don’t notice your discomfort as much as you would otherwise.

Cina

Many of these remedies aren’t safe for use in children. But Cina is a safe homeopathic medicine and a common treatment for young patients. 

Teeth grinding in kids can be harsher than the adult counterpart because little ones don’t understand what’s going on. If they’re anxious, waking up screaming, or irritable, there’s a problem.

They may be grinding their teeth from stress, but it’s also a common sign of a worm infestation. They could have another sleep-related movement disorder that you need to watch for. 

But if you notice bad breath and unusual saliva, or your child is biting or lashing out at others, Cina can help. 

Combining preventative care through overall wellness and these homeopathic teeth grinding remedies could reduce your bruxism problems. 

Special Equipment to Stop Your Grinding

If you are looking for non-medicinal solutions to stop your grinding for good, orthodontic appliances such as night guards may be the solution. 

You can order custom-fit night guards online, which professionals like JS Dental Lab then create and mail to you. Wear it while you sleep and awaken to peaceful, pain-free mornings.

Mouth Guards and Night Guards: What They Are and How They Work

Orthodontic appliances are dentistry solutions that reduce the symptoms of bruxism. There is a difference between a mouth guard and a night guard, so make sure if you order one, you know what you’re getting.

Mouth guards prevent injury to the entire mouth area. Athletes and people engaging in dangerous activities usually use them. They act as a helmet to cover the teeth and gums. If there’s an impact, the mouth guard limits the amount of injury the teeth, lips, gums, and arches receive.

A night guard stops the teeth from touching each other and moves the jaw into a more natural position. It can be used during the day to reduce awake bruxism behavior, then worn at night to stop sleep teeth grinding.

But if an orthodontic appliance isn’t helping, dental corrections may fix your bruxism. 

When your teeth are out of alignment, composite restorations and full-coverage crowns replace them to their natural shape and size. You get your normal functioning back, which usually resolves the teeth grinding issues.

So You’re Grinding Your Teeth: Your Next Steps

Teeth grinding can range from mild to severe in nature. If yours is annoying but not concerning, some basic lifestyle changes might be all you need to do to eliminate the problem.

In addition to homeopathic remedies, some of these daily life and habit adjustments could aid in fixing the issue:

• Start weeding out things that you know stress you but aren’t necessary. For example, delegate household chores and cooking tasks to free up some time for yourself.

• Use natural remedies to get more restful sleep. Check with your doctor about medications or solutions for sleep apnea if you’ve been diagnosed with it.

• Limit your alcohol intake and quit smoking since both of these factors worsen teeth grinding.

• Don’t use recreational drugs, as they worsen your grinding, too.

• Stick to less than six cups a day of any caffeinated drink. The caffeine interacts with your brain chemistry to prevent restful sleep, increasing your grinding.

But if the teeth grinding continues or gets worse, call your dentist and make an appointment. They will evaluate you, and, depending on the probable cause of the grinding, they will recommend a proper course of treatment.

Conclusion

Some diagnoses are obviously scary, like cancer or a heart condition. By comparison, teeth grinding sounds harmless and silly. 

But it’s not an innocent condition that you can ignore. Bruxism often starts with mild symptoms, then leads to serious dental issues. Other times, serious medical problems that you need to address are the cause.

You can use natural and homeopathic remedies to try to treat your teeth grinding symptoms. Try herbs and supplements that reduce pain and help you relax, and order a custom-fit night guard from JS Dental Lab. 

If these don’t help, call your doctor or dentist and work with them to figure out why your teeth grinding isn’t going away.