Key Points
What is Bruxism?
Bruxism is an activity that includes unconscious grinding, clenching, or bracing of the teeth. It can occur while you are awake or while you are asleep and is not considered a normal use or function of the body. In Bruxism the temporalis, masseter, and medial pterygoid, muscles responsible for closing the jaw, contract for long periods of time leading to various unwanted symptoms.
Reports of how common Bruxism might be vary widely. Women tend to be more likely than men to experience Bruxism while they are awake, but there isn’t any difference in nighttime Bruxism between genders.
What Causes Bruxism?
The cause of Bruxism is uncertain but there are some possibilities/contributing factors:
- Genetics – 21 – 50% of people who have sleep Bruxism have a parent who experienced it in childhood
- Altered/abnormal bite
- Emotional stress and other psychosocial factors
- Anxiety, insomnia, and depression which can prolong Bruxism
- Smoking, systemic diseases, alcohol consumption, gastric reflux, and some medications
Certain non-functional jaw movements can worsen Bruxism including biting the tongue, cheeks, or lips; chewing gum or eating seeds for many hours per day; and biting nails or other hard objects.
Common Symptoms of Bruxism
- Teeth grinding or clenching
- Abnormal tooth wear
- Sounds due to clenching and grinding
- Jaw muscle discomfort
- Inflammation of gums
- Headache
- TMJ pain and destruction
- Increase in mass, size and strength of jaw muscles, especially masseters and temporalis
Less Common Symptoms/Symptoms not as easily recognized as Bruxism-related
- Eye pain, redness, and sensitivity to light
- Decreased hearing, itchy ear canals, earache, ringing in the ears, vertigo, and ear plugging sensation
- Oral discomfort, limited opening of mouth, open or closed lock jaw, reduced flow of saliva
- Jaw clicking, popping jaw points, jaw deviating to one side when opening of mouth, pain in muscles of cheeks and temporomandibular joint, uncontrollable jaw movements.
- Throat: swallowing difficulties and sore throat without infection, laryngitis, voice irregularities or changes, frequent coughing or constant clearing of throat, feeling of foreign object in throat.
- Neck: reduced mobility, stiffness, pain, achy shoulders, and backache.
- Masseter and temporalis muscle growth (can result in change in appearance)
- Premature aging face
- Loss of facial volume (which can age the appearance of the face)
Due to the range of symptoms Bruxism can be difficult to diagnose and is often misdiagnosed. As a result patients can suffer with symptoms for a prolonged period, and resort to seeking treatment for the most bothersome symptoms without recognizing the root cause.
Treatment
Patients should treat Bruxism once it is diagnosed but may also choose to treat some of its symptoms separately and simultaneously. As the article seeks to propose treatments for physical changes in the face due to Bruxism, it mentions many such treatments in detail including botulinum toxin, facial filler, and more.
Recommendation
The research paper contains an excellent summary of Bruxism, its causes and symptoms, in addition to valuable information about the treatment of physical appearance changes of the face due to Bruxism. This summary focuses on the portions of the study regarding Bruxism diagnosis and symptoms, and does not summarize the authors’ findings regarding treatment of physical appearance changes of the face due to Bruxism. The full article is linked for your convenience.
