Tooth Clenching/Grinding

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From snoring to talking, we can do some strange things while we sleep. But one of the most common things we can do is grind our teeth.

 

Tooth grinding and tooth clenching, also known as Bruxism, can have debilitating effects, including headaches, migraines, chronic tension headaches and enlarged jaw muscles. It can also cause tooth wear and broken teeth.

 

When your muscles start making your jaw clench and grind your teeth, the trigeminal nerve system, which provides sensation to the face, gets bombarded with signals. This is what leads to a pounding headache or migraine.

 

Bruxism often goes untreated, because it can be hard to make a connection between the symptoms and grinding or clenching your teeth. However, a dull, constant headache or sore jaw when you wake up is a tell-tale symptom of bruxism.

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Sleep Clench Inhibitor

 

Luckily, tooth grinding or clenching is very treatable. At Bliss Dental we have a very successful method to help ease the problem. A device called the Sleep Clench Inhibitor, or SCI helps reduce migraines by 77%, according to a recent clinical trial, with no side effects.

 

The SCI reduces clenching by stopping the canine or back teeth touching. This diminishes muscle contractions in the head and face, which can cause headaches and migraines.

 

To demonstrate how the SCI works, touch the muscles of your temples while biting down on a pencil with the back teeth as hard as possible. The temporal muscles will bulge and intensely contract. When you bite down on a pencil, with only the front teeth, the temporal muscles remain relaxed. The SCI works in a similar way to the pencil, stopping the back teeth from touching and so ensuring the muscles are not tense.

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Treatment fee

An SCI costs £350 and can be made in one visit to Bliss Dental.

We also offer a laboratory made SCI which is even more robust, for heavy clenchers, and this costs £399.