Can grinding your teeth kill you? That’s a great question for a condition that most people see as an inconvenience in their lives. So let’s tackle that question from the beginning… No, you probably can’t. Let’s face it, teeth grinding or bruxism, as correctly identified, in its milder forms is not likely to kill you. That is unless his sleep partner pushes the limits of his tolerance with the constant, irritating sound of his teeth grinding together night after night!

But, if the condition is ignored and allowed to go undiagnosed, the potential consequences to your health could quickly become very serious. If left untreated, in many cases the simple act of grinding or clenching your teeth can lead quite quickly to a condition known as chronic temporomandibular joint (TMJ) syndrome. This is due to the stresses that prolonged grinding puts on the jaw and temporomandibular joint. If you are unlucky enough to have your teeth grinding deteriorate into the TMJ, then the most common symptom you will notice is pain. TMJ pain is often described as a dull ache around the jaw joint and ears. Other symptoms may include frequent and severe headaches, locking of the jaws when trying to open the mouth, pain in the neck, shoulders, or back, and clenching jaws; that’s gratifying, popping or clicking your jaw joints.

Also, your ‘bite’ may feel awkward or misaligned and the sides of your face may swell. Other symptoms may include ringing in the ears, decreased hearing, ear pain, dizziness, and vision problems. For some, the symptoms and eventually the condition may improve and eventually disappear altogether, sometimes for no apparent reason, but for others the symptoms will worsen into long-term, persistent, debilitating pain. But, you might ask, how can someone be so stupid as not to get treatment before something like this happens to them? Well, most bruxers don’t even realize they have the condition until it’s too late. It is believed that 1 in 4 of the population usually grind their teeth. Of course they know something is not quite right, but they don’t associate their symptoms with nocturnal teeth grinding.

So, if you wake up most mornings with a dull, throbbing headache or perhaps occasional jaw pain, toothache, tiredness, and/or bleeding gums, or if you sleep poorly on a regular basis, you have episodes of neck and shoulder pain or , and this is a great indication of bruxism, you notice significant wear on your teeth and molars, book an appointment with your dentist.

Either that or ignore it and see how many nights of sleep your partner has to lose before they finally reach their tolerance limits with you! Don’t let teeth grinding kill you, visit your dentist today.