If you see someone putting the tip of their tongue between their teeth, don’t be alarmed as they are training themself to relax and not clench or grind their teeth while they sleep. Bruxism or teeth grinding can be because of a person’s crooked jaw or just be a bad habit. If it happens occasionally and you wake up with a sore jaw, that is fine, but it is when it happens regularly it can damage teeth and gums and lead to tightness in the haw area. About 10 % of adults and 15% of kids grind their teeth at night.
3 things to stop to help reduce teeth grinding:
1. Stop chewing gum as this action accustoms your teeth to grinding and clenching.
2. Avoid caffeine and alcohol.
3. Avoid the action of chewing anything, but food.
5 things to do to help stop teeth grinding:
1. Mentally tell yourself to stop grinding your teeth.
2. Put your tongue between the tip of your teeth.
3. Relax your body with yoga or pilates and your mouth will relax too.
4. Put a warm cloth against your cheeks to help relax the muscles.
5. Mouth guards can help, but for severe cases – see your dentist.
For kids, it is probably best not important to tell them they grind their teeth, but if you suspect it just encourage the good habits and maybe you could do the good habits with them!
Adam says
Well damn, I grind my teeth almost constantly (and thankfully haven’t suffered any consequences for it… yet) and I had no idea that caffeine could be the cause. I consume caffeine like crazy, so I bet that’s what’s playing a large part in causing me to grind my teeth! I wonder if cutting it out will help with teeth grinding during sleep though?