Do you ever grind your teeth at night? Do you ever wake up in the morning with sore jaws or teeth clenched? Too often, people who grind their teeth in their sleep are unaware of the condition until it begins to inflict serious damage to their teeth. The side effects of tooth grinding can lead to serious dental problems that can affect your long-term health.
If you are someone who (knowingly or unknowingly) grinds their teeth in their sleep, then here are a few natural ways to stop grinding your teeth at night, along with a few useful home remedies.
Signs That You Grind Your Teeth
Grinding teeth in your sleep is known as bruxism. Though its causes are numerous, grinding teeth while sleeping typically reflects the body’s reaction to heightened nervous tension. This could be from stress or tension or any other underlying condition.
Here are a few signs that may mean you are grinding your teeth in your sleep:
- Disrupted sleep and constant re-awakening during the night
- Tension headaches that worsen in the morning
- Tooth sensitivity (does it hurt to brush your teeth?)
- Soreness in the side joints of the jaw
- Worn-away tooth enamel, or worse - broken teeth
What Causes Tooth Grinding?
Grinding teeth at night is usually a sign of severe stress, anxiety, and tension. It’s one of those small things that can become a more serious problem and shows the important link between our physical and emotional well-being. By addressing the anxiety and stress in our lives, we can lessen our chances of grinding teeth in sleep.
Sometimes, tooth grinding is a sign of more serious sleep disorders (such as sleep apnea). Though more research is needed, many believe there is a connection between sleep apnea (inconsistent breathing while asleep) and tooth grinding (or bruxism). If you think you may be showing signs of a sleep disorder, consult a doctor or sleep therapist.
Reduce Stress to Stop Grinding Teeth
Remember that tooth grinding is a nervous condition often linked to increased levels of stress and anxiety in our lives. Though our bodies may be in a restful state of sleep, the stress and tension we hold in our subconscious reveals itself in the way we clench our teeth in our sleep, holding our jaws tensely much the same way we do when we are stressed or anxious during our waking hours.
By focusing on how to reduce stress in our lives, we improve our chances of overcoming tooth grinding in our sleep. Focusing on natural methods of relaxation and stress reduction are important ways to manage this condition with minimal side effects.
Tips to Naturally Stop Grinding Teeth in Sleep
- Reduce Stress: Reducing the stress-inducing factors in your life removes the tension we hold in our muscles. Consider the source of the stress in your life and why your body might not be able to release that stress before bedtime. Another way to support the reduction of stress is by trying our Calm Stress Support Capsules. Each capsule has 15mg of CBD and 300mg of Ashwagandha designed to help you relieve stress and promote a positive mood.
- Manage Anxiety: Anxiety may seem like some widespread plague of our time, but it is a real condition that brings real disruption to people’s lives. By addressing one’s anxiety, we can address the symptoms of anxiety. Finding natural remedies for managing day-to-day anxiety can be especially helpful.
- Maintain a Relaxed Bedtime Routine: Our busy, stress-filled lives often overlaps with our natural bedtime, when the body begins to slow down and enter a state of rest. Doing simple stretching exercises can help release tension before bed. Open your mouth, flex your jaws, breathe deeply and allow your body to gently calm down. Soaking in a bath of epsom salts can also help your body relax. If you are still having trouble falling asleep, consider adding our Sleep Good Night Capsules to your bedtime routine. These capsules each feature 15mg of CBD and 2mg of plant-sourced Melatonin and are designed to help promote calm, relaxation and keep our circadian rhythms in tune.
- Wear a Night Guard: Whether store-bought or custom made, mouth guards bring nighttime relief to the wearer, protecting the sensitive tooth enamel and bone structure at night to protect one’s teeth.
- Use a Heating Pad: Relaxing one’s muscles by warming them before bedtime often releases tension throughout the body, which makes it less likely someone will clench their jaws or grind their teeth in their sleep.
- Use Natural Muscle Relaxants: Muscle relaxants from natural sources can be helpful in releasing muscle tension for several hours, allowing you more restful sleep and stopping teeth grinding naturally.
- Eat more Magnesium: Increasing the amount of magnesium in one’s diet has been shown to reduce tension in the jaws and reduce teeth grinding. Magnesium-rich foods include almonds, along with other nuts and seeds, many different kinds of legumes, leafy-green vegetables like spinach and kale, avocados, and bananas.
- Chewing gum: Chewing gum in the daytime can release tension at night. Exercising the jaws while awake and aware can help release the kind of tension that builds up in our muscles over time. Chewing sugar-free gum is best for your long-term dental health.
You Can Stop Grinding Teeth Naturally
Remember that grinding teeth is a serious side effect of stress, anxiety, or even sleep disorders. Finding natural remedies to address the stress and anxiety in your life can help reduce more significant damage to your mouth while improving your overall well-being. With tooth grinding, the solution does not have to be complicated, expensive, or invasive. Finding natural ways to be calm before bed can help tremendously.
