Bruxism in children and adults: reasons for getting rid of it

Bruxism is called paroxysmal gnashing of teeth lasting several minutes, arising in a dream. This condition is quite widespread: according to statistics, they suffer about 30-50% of children under the age of 7 years and 10-15% of adults. It is assumed that the frequency of occurrence of bruxism in the adult population is even higher, since single people they often do not assume that they creak at night with teeth, since there is not a person around who can talk about it to tell.

Bruxism does not pose a threat to the life of the patient, but in a number of cases it causes a lot of trouble to him and others.

About why there is bruxism, what symptoms besides the sound of gnashing teeth testify about it, and also about the principles of diagnosing the treatment of this disease, we'll talk in our article.

Why there is bruxism

Grinding of teeth occurs due to a sudden spasm of chewing muscles, the subsequent strong compression of the upper and lower jaw and active movement of them relative to each other. Why this phenomenon occurs, with 100% probability today no one can say. At the heart of the development of bruxism can lie both one and a number of problems of dental, psychoneurological and gastroenterological nature, as well as diseases of ENT organs.

Previously, there was an opinion that bruxism appears in the event that the human body is infected with helminths. This theory has not received scientific confirmation, therefore helminthiases, as the cause of gnashing of teeth, are not currently considered.

It is believed that the most common cause of nocturnal grinding of teeth are stress, emotional overload of the nervous system, and psycho-emotional overstrain of a person.

Since bruxism in many cases is combined with such states as sleepwalking, nightmares, snoring, nocturnal enuresis, tremor and epilepsy, it is recognized that it is a sign of a violation of the functioning of the nervous system, both central and peripheral. Often, gnashing of teeth accompanies such pathologies as Parkinson's disease and Huntington's chorea.

In children, bruxism is a consequence of birth trauma and other conditions associated with severe delivery, and arises because of an incorrect bite or anomalies of the development of the teeth (for example, in the absence of some of them).

In adults, it should be noted such dental prerequisites for the development of bruxism, as poorly sealed teeth, adentia (the absence of some teeth or even whole groups of them), an incorrect bite, difficulties in getting used to dentures or bracket systems. The problem can arise if the dentures and the bracket system are not properly selected, and if there is an inflammatory process in the temporomandibular joint area.

Risk factors for the development of bruxism are the recent craniocerebral trauma, as well as excessive intake of caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, hypnotics and antidepressants for patients.

GERD, adenoids, rhinitis and malnutrition, contrary to popular belief, do not lead to a night gnashing of teeth.

Symptoms and consequences of bruxism

As was repeatedly stated above, the main symptom of bruxism is involuntary paroxysmal gnashing of teeth during sleep. Episodes of such gnashes are short-lived: as a rule, their duration is not more than 10 seconds. The patient himself does not hear the sound of the rattle, but this sound causes considerable discomfort to his relatives, who are nearby or even in neighboring rooms.

If bruxism lasts for years, tooth enamel is erased, teeth become sensitive to the influence of temperature factors and more prone to tooth decay, loosen and fall out. In a number of cases, with a pronounced prolonged nocturnal scraping, the teeth are soothed almost to the root, which is not only cosmetic defect, but also entails digestive disorders, because the leading function of teeth is grinding food. Also, with bruxism, patients pay attention to the rapid failure of dentures, which are simply erased.

Since the jaw muscles with bruxism work intensively, they can increase in size: they protrude from both sides of the jaws.

Other indirect signs of bruxism are:

• pain in the ears and / or paranasal sinuses;
• dizziness;
• tinnitus;
• insomnia;
• daytime sleepiness;
• depressive disorders;
• unmotivated anxiety, emotional tension.

What is daytime bruxism, or bruxiomania

If bruxism is a gnashing of teeth during the sleep of the patient, this phenomenon during the period of his waking is called "bruxiomania". Daytime gnashing of teeth occurs much less often than at night, as most people during the waking period control the movements of their own jaws. There is a bruxiomania, usually in a period of stress and psycho-emotional overload - jaw The muscles involuntarily contract, the teeth are compressed and move relative to each other - there is screeching. Eliminate bruxiomania usually helps a psychologist.

How to confirm the diagnosis of "bruxism"

This diagnosis, as a rule, is established already at the stage of the doctor's collection of complaints and anamnesis of the disease, taking into account the signs (consequences of a grating), detected by the dentist. To clarify the diagnosis, in order to determine which teeth are "overloaded the dentist uses the Brooks Checker. This is a special kappa made of soft plastic or rubber for a particular patient on the basis of the impression of the upper and lower jaws. During the sleep period, the patient is put on by the Brooks Checker and passes it for analysis to the clinic in the morning, where the specialist determines which parts of the kappa are deformed, which means which teeth experience overloading.

To register the moments of spasm of the masticatory muscles, and also to exclude epilepsy, as the cause of bruxism, the patient is polysomnograficheskoy study.

In order to identify the reasons for grinding teeth, a patient can be assigned consultations of related specialists: a psychologist, a neuropathologist, an osteopath, and others.

Principles of treatment of bruxism

A good sleep helps to eliminate the negative impact of stress, which is an important component of the treatment of bruxism.

Grinding of teeth, manifested in childhood, infrequent, short-term, not entailing damage teeth, in most cases, medical intervention does not require and as the child grows older yourself. If the bruxism of the baby is observed day after day for months or even years, this condition requires the help of a dentist.

• Try to reduce stress to a minimum;
• apply relaxation techniques to self-relieve stress;
• several times throughout the day to do a relaxing gymnastics and / or massage of the collar zone, neck and face;
• before going to bed take a relaxing bath with soothing herbs or aromatic oils;
• before going to bed take light sedatives (Persen, Novo-Passit, Sedasen and others);
• sleep enough time, because chronic lack of sleep weakens the nervous system and increases susceptibility to stressful situations;
• to abandon the products that increase the excitability of the nervous system: coffee, strong tea, cola, as well as hard food, such as nuts, caramels and so on;
• drink enough fluids;
• use complex vitamins, since the hypovitaminosis of some of them, mainly group B, weakens the nervous system.

To help the patient normalize the psychoemotional state, he can be recommended to work with a psychologist.

A separate link in the treatment of bruxism is dental correction. To prevent damage to tooth enamel due to gnashing, the patient will be recommended to wear a cap. The above is the principle of their manufacture and application for the diagnosis of bruxism, but in addition to diagnosis, the kappas are also used in the treatment of this disease. Also, the dentist will carry out manipulations aimed at eliminating the malocclusion, replacing missing teeth with artificial limbs and other necessary actions.

In particularly severe cases, when the therapeutic measures described above do not have the proper effect, the patient may be prescribed Botox injections, which paralyzes the muscles of the mouth, as well as hypnosis.

Prevention of bruxism

The primary direction of preventing the development of bruxism is the timely diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the teeth and the nervous system. In addition, in order to minimize the risk of disease, stress should be avoided, harmful habits should be avoided, self-relaxation and self-massage techniques to be able to normalize your own psycho-emotional state. In case of occurrence of symptoms of bruxism, you should not engage in self-medication, and you should immediately seek help from a dentist or neurologist. With the timely start of adequate treatment of the negative consequences of grinding teeth with a high probability will be avoided.

T. A. Chekurova, dentist, chief doctor of the dental clinic "Dental" tells about what bruxism is: