Dentist Dr. Damla Zenar gave information about the subject.

Bruxism is a dysfunctional habit that manifests itself with strong jaw movements that generally occur during sleep. Our teeth in the upper and lower jaws should not come into contact except for chewing and swallowing functions. Dental contacts that occur outside chewing and swallowing are considered dysfunctional movements. Teeth clenching is a clenching behavior that occurs during the day or night, except for chewing and swallowing. This condition, which is frequently seen in our daily lives, is often not known by the patient himself/herself.

There are two main reasons for the habit of clenching teeth. The first and most important of these is stress and the other is closure disorder. So what kind of negative situations can we face as a result of the habit of clenching teeth? Teeth wear and leakage occurs. Fractures, cracks and displacement of teeth may occur. White lines appear on the inside of the cheek and traces of teeth are visible around the tongue. Pain occurs in the head, neck and facial muscles. The lower face height decreases, the chin tip and the tip of the nose come closer together and an older appearance is created. The lower jaw is displaced forward over time and a concave profile is formed. The face appears angular and square.

Although the habit of clenching manifests itself at night, it has been found that in advanced cases, the same functional disorder is seen during the day. The aim of clenching treatments is to prevent permanent damage to the teeth and jaw joint and to eliminate pain. “Night guards”, which are applied by the dentist and placed between the upper and lower jaw teeth to prevent the teeth from contacting each other during sleep, are the most important tool used in the symptomatic treatment of teeth grinding. However, night protectors are often not enough on their own.

Therefore, depending on the picture of the disease, some additional treatments should be applied in addition to night protectors. These treatments include stress therapy, measures to ensure comfortable sleep, muscle relaxant medication, replacement of incorrectly made dental fillings and crowns, and prosthetic applications to replace missing teeth.

In addition to the night plaque, one of the most commonly used methods in tooth clenching treatments today is botox applications.

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