I read a press release stating that dentist were saying that the stress of the pandemic has been damaging our teeth. Naturally, I wanted to know more, so I wrote an article for the health pages of the Daily Mirror and Daily Express on the subject.
What interested me was that some dentists were seeing more people than ever with chipped teeth and jaw pain caused by teeth grinding.
Bruxism – extreme teeth grinding and jaw clenching – can cause everything from chipped, cracked teeth and increased dental sensitivity to acute jaw pain and tension headaches.
It affects about six million of us in the UK. But dentists say they’re now seeing more patients than ever with the teeth-torturing problem – and they’re laying the blame on the pandemic, and the anxieties and tensions it’s brought.
“It’s been a challenging, stressful time for us all, and I’m in no doubt that this is playing out in our patients’ mouths,” dentist Dr Ahmed Hussain (harrowonthehilldental.co.uk) told me.
“ A higher proportion than ever are presenting with symptoms of bruxism including chipped teeth and headaches.”
Stress is a major risk factor in teeth grinding – studies have found that almost 70% of bruxism happens due to stress or anxiety.
Clenching the jaw and grinding the teeth can happen during the day (often when we’re concentrating, feeling under pressure, or when we’re generally tense, anxious or worried) or at night, when it can lead to broken sleep. People are often unaware they’re night-time grinders (unless their other-half lets them know!) but telltale signs can be waking up with a sore jaw or headache.
It’s not just dentists who are dealing with teeth-grinding issues, either. Physiotherapists are also reporting huge numbers of patients come to them post-Covid complaining of headaches and jaw pain – often indicators of clenching and grinding.
“I attribute some of it to the increased stress of working from home since the pandemic began – spending sustained periods in the same position on laptops on sofas, with no switch-off,” says physiotherapist Katie Knapton (physiofastonline.co.uk) “This can result in increased tension all over the body including in the neck and back, plus clenching and biting down, which puts pressure on the jaw and teeth.”
The poor posture many of us adopt when home-working from makeshift workstations is a big part of the problem, too.
“Most people are working from dining tables, at suboptimal desks, or even from laptops on their beds – with no ergonomic assessment, as they would have at their place of work,” says physiotherapist Krina Panchal (krinapanchalphysio.com).
“The resulting poor posture – forward head and rounded shoulders can cause spasm in the upper neck muscles, the suboccipitals – which connect the skull to the first few vertebrae in the neck – and can cause head and face pain. When there is spasm in the suboccipitals, they can pull on the vertebrae – and when this pull is constant, it can lead to a change in the alignment of the jaw which then makes patients clench and grind even more than normal. When some people feel pain in these areas, they tend to clench and grind their teeth as a coping mechanism, either consciously or subconsciously.”
GET GRINDING UNDER CONTROL
If you think you may be a teeth-grinder, see your dentist. Though occasional grinding won’t do your teeth any harm, prolonged gnashing could damage you teeth beyond repair and also put excessive pressure on your temporomandibular joint – the hinge that connects your jaw to your skull – and cause severe pain in the face, jaw and ear areas.
Your dentist can prescribe you with a custom fitted mouthguard or oral splint to wear at night. This can help relax the jaw muscles and create a barrier between your teeth to prevent damage from grinding.
You can also buy self-adjusting mouthguards. The Sleepright range of mouthguards has been approved by the British Dental Health Foundation. From £24.99 (bruxism.org.uk)
In some cases botox can be injected into the jaw muscles to relax them.
TREAT YOUR TEETH
Bruxism can wear down the enamel of your teeth and even cause them to crack or break.
To repair the look of a chipped or worn tooth, your dentist can apply porcelain veneers, dental crowns or composite bonding.
If the tooth has been damaged beyond repair then you could undergo a dental implant.
TACKLE WORK STRESS
If you suspect that work- stress is causing your tooth trauma, then Dr Krystyna Wilcyznski, advises regular work breaks – set a timer on your phone every 40 minutes to walk around and change position and to check in with your body to see if you’re tensing up and clenching your jaw. “Take note of your breathing too,” she says.” Many of us practise apical breathing – shallow breaths into the chest – which can create tension in the bod, especially the neck and jaw. Try breathing deeply into your belly instead.”
Krina Panchal adds: “It’s not easy when some people have no choice about where they work – for example, young adults in house shares, where there isn’t any space to work apart from their bed. But if you can, do try to avoid poor working posture by setting up your monitor so that the first line of text on your screen is at eye level and your arms are at a 90 degree angle.”
It could also be worth seeing a physiotherapist to help mobilise upper neck vertebrae and bring them back into alignment.
LET GO OF GRINDING.
Relaxation techniques such as meditation or yoga can help relax your whole body, including your jaw, so you’re less likely to clamp down and grind, so try to incorporate some soothing practices into your day.
Have a calming pre-bedtime routine – including a warm bath – and avoid alcohol, which tends to make tooth-grinding worse. Try holding a warm compress against your jaw next to your earlobe to help relax the jaw muscle before bed too.
Many dentists will advise against chewing gum as it gets you accustomed to the feeling of clenching your jaw and bringing your teeth together – so you’re more likely to tooth-grind, often without being aware of it.
“During the day, if you notice that you are grinding your teeth or clenching your jaw, try positioning the tip of your tongue between your teeth to help your jaw muscles relax, “ suggests dentist Dr Krystyna Wilcyznski, (www.whiteandcodental.co.uk). “To relieve jaw tightness, try this exercise: Place your fingers on the top of your front four bottom teeth. Slowly pull down until you feel slight discomfort on the side of your jaw. Hold for 30 seconds, and then slowly release your jaw back to the starting position.”
Photos by Hana Lopez, Nick Fewings, Audrey Fretz, Sincerely Media , Diana Polekhina and Jared Rice on Unsplash