{"id":22657,"date":"2021-03-18T09:30:23","date_gmt":"2021-03-18T13:30:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.singlecare.com\/blog\/?p=22657"},"modified":"2022-06-02T11:43:47","modified_gmt":"2022-06-02T15:43:47","slug":"bruxism-teeth-grinding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.singlecare.com\/blog\/bruxism-teeth-grinding\/","title":{"rendered":"Why am I grinding my teeth?"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is bruxism?<\/a> | What causes teeth grinding?<\/a> | Diagnosis<\/a> | How to stop grinding teeth<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Do you wake up with sore facial muscles or pain in your jaw? Do you frequently have headaches in the morning? You could be grinding your teeth while sleeping. Medically known as bruxism, it is a repeated, unconscious clenching and grinding movement. It is involuntary, and you often aren’t aware that you are doing it, especially if you grind your teeth while sleeping. It\u2019s difficult to consciously quit without strategies for how to stop grinding teeth.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is bruxism?<\/h2>\n

Bruxism is the medical name for teeth grinding. Teeth grinding is the repeated rubbing together, or gnashing, of the biting surfaces of your teeth. You can apply up to 250 pounds of pressure on your teeth, according to the <\/span>MSD Manual<\/span><\/a>. That\u2019s a lot of force.<\/span><\/p>\n

What causes teeth grinding?<\/h2>\n

Teeth grinding is common. Up to one-third of adults exhibit bruxism behaviors during daytime hours (awake bruxism); more than 1 in 10 have sleep bruxism (or nocturnal bruxism), according to the<\/span> Cedars-Sinai Medical Center<\/span><\/a>. Anywhere from 20% to 30% of children grind their teeth, usually while sleeping, according to<\/span> familydoctor.org<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There is no one root cause of bruxism. However, there are numerous contributing factors:<\/span><\/p>\n