A mouth guard can prevent damage to the teeth but doesn't treat the muscular tightening that causes painful teeth grinding. Treatments that target the masseter muscles themselves can eliminate the need for a mouth guard.
Long term sufferers of Bruxism can find the protective enamel of their teeth worn away by the repeated friction of grinding. This can result in costly dental procedures and leaves the teeth themselves more susceptible to disease.
Less severe cases of bruxism linked to environmental factors like stress and usage of particular medication can be transient, however more severe cases can result in long periods of grinding without any relief.
The diagnostic process for bruxism is dependent on the professional providing care. Overnight sleep studies in a clinic can provide a conclusive diagnosis, but this can prove to be time consuming and expensive. Patient reported teeth damage and a painful jaw are often sufficient to provide a bruxism diagnosis.
Often treatments can include using mouth guards or mouth splints. But these are very expensive, with custom made mouth guards often costing several hundred pounds. Unfortunately, these don’t actually treat the problem and only delay the inevitable while often leading to poor quality of life.
Another option is getting a reductive coronoplasty—a dental procedure that involves the reshaping or leveling of the teeth’s biting surface.
But traditional treatments have been ineffective at treating the pain and masseter hypertrophy associated with chronic grinding and clenching of teeth.
