Smile makeover, teeth whitening info

On the surface, it is quite normal for people to grind teeth in their sleep because kids do get them as well. Mild cases are nothing more than annoyance to the people who sleeps with the person.

But I read on CNN Health that grinding teeth or bruxism may cause certain discomforts to the sufferers like headache, face pain and other types of discomforts. So, they have these solutions for those people who really have problems with grind teeth in their sleep like :

Treatment

In many cases, no treatment is necessary. Many kids outgrow bruxism without special treatment, and many adults don’t brux badly enough to require therapy. However, if the problem is severe, treatment options include:

* Stress management. If you grind your teeth because of stress, you may be able to prevent the problem with professional counseling or strategies that promote relaxation, such as exercise and meditation. If your child grinds his or her teeth because of tension or fear, it may help to talk about your child’s fears just before bed or to help your child relax with a warm bath or a favorite book.
* Dental approaches. If you or your child has bruxism, your doctor may suggest a mouth guard or protective dental appliance (splint) to prevent damage to your teeth. Your dentist can make a custom mouth guard to fit your mouth. Over-the-counter mouth guards are available and they’re less expensive than custom guards, but they generally don’t fit well and can dislodge during bruxing. If your bruxism seems to stem from dental problems, your dentist may also correct misaligned teeth. In severe cases — when tooth wear has led to sensitivity or the inability to chew properly — your dentist may need to use overlays or crowns to entirely reshape the chewing surfaces of your teeth.
* Behavior therapy. Once you discover that you have bruxism, you may be able to change the behavior by practicing proper mouth and jaw position. Concentrate on resting your tongue upward with your teeth apart and your lips closed. This should keep your teeth from grinding and your jaw from clenching. If you’re having a hard time changing your habits, you may benefit from biofeedback, a form of complementary and alternative medicine that uses a variety of monitoring procedures and equipment to teach you to control involuntary body responses.

During a biofeedback session, a therapist applies electrical sensors to different parts of your body. These sensors monitor your body’s physiological responses to stress — such as teeth grinding — and then feed the information back to you via auditory and visual cues. These cues may take the form of a beeping sound or a flashing light. With this feedback, you’ll start to associate teeth grinding or clenching with stress and learn to change your behavior. You may also be given a portable biofeedback device that you use at home. Your therapist will explain how it works.
* Medications. In general, medications aren’t very effective for treatment of bruxism. In some cases, your doctor may suggest taking a muscle relaxant before bedtime. If you develop bruxism as a side effect of an antidepressant medication, your doctor may change your medication or prescribe another medication to counteract your bruxism. Botulinum toxin (Botox) injections may help some people with severe bruxism that hasn’t responded to other treatments.

Self-care

These self-care steps may prevent or help treat bruxism:

* Limit alcohol, tobacco and caffeine. Cutting down on your daily intake of alcohol, tobacco and caffeine — or giving up these substances entirely — may help, because they seem to make bruxism worse.
* Reduce stress. Keeping your life stresses to a minimum can reduce your risk of developing bruxism. The less anxiety and tension you feel, the better chance you have of avoiding bruxism.
* Consult your sleep partner. If you have a roommate or bed partner, ask him or her to be aware of any grinding or clicking sounds that you might make while sleeping. Your sleep partner can then let you know if he or she notices any teeth-grinding sounds in the night.
* Have regular dental exams. Dental exams are the best way to screen against bruxism, especially if you live alone or don’t have a sleep partner who can observe bruxism at night. Your dentist can best spot signs of bruxism in your mouth and jaw with regular visits and examinations.

You can read more about it from MayoClinic or get it from CNN Health. http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/DS/00337.html

So, watch out for the teeth grinding for a nice smile and better rows of teeth.