How your teeth can show if you’re stressed

My dentist told me I was stressed. I knew that already, but by simply looking at my teeth he could tell I was feeling the burn.

I’ve been clenching and grinding my teeth in my sleep for years. But since the pandemic started, my habits have worsened to the point where I twice broke a tooth during my night-time shenanigans. I was also waking most mornings with a sore jaw and headache.

Dentists reported a significant rise in teeth clenching and grinding after the pandemic. Credit: Stocksy

Clenching and grinding are common stress responses, my dentist says. And he believes stress plays a significant role in why I kept breaking my teeth.

I’m far from the only person who’s suffering the effects of teeth clenching or grinding at the moment. Dentists are reporting a worrying rise in both behaviours (known as parafunctions) since the pandemic, says prosthodontist Dr Scott Davis, spokesperson for the Australian Dental Association. Darron Goralsky, director and principal physiotherapist at Melbourne’s TMJ & Facial Pain Centre, has also seen a surge in patients seeking treatment. He believes the pandemic created a “perfect storm” as people adopted worse postures, exercised less and became swamped by stress.

Clenching and grinding are worrying habits, Davis explains, because they put a significant load on the teeth. The problem is worse at night because we lack conscious control when asleep and can therefore enact these behaviours at “even higher force levels” than we would during the day.

The pandemic created a “perfect storm” as people adopted worse postures, exercised less and became swamped by stress.

Davis says these behaviours can lead to the problems I’ve had, and can also cause tooth sensitivity and loose teeth. Goralsky adds that other complications include blocked or ringing ears, light-headedness and brain fog.

If any of these sound familiar, Goralsky recommends seeing a specialist. A formal assessment can help determine why you’re clenching or grinding and whether you have any underlying issues, such as sleep apnoea or mechanical neck or jaw problems.

You may not think parafunctions are to blame for your issues. That’s common, Davis says, explaining that about 80 per cent of people who clench or grind aren’t aware they do so.

In fact, he says it’s usually either a partner who tells someone they’re noisily grinding overnight, or a dentist who detects “significant wear” of their teeth and alerts them to the problem.

To reduce night-time parafunctions, Goralsky recommends sleeping on an ergonomic pillow, taking magnesium supplements before bed to aid relaxation, seeing a physiotherapist and building in ways to de-stress every day.

It’s also important to protect your teeth, says Davis. He recommends an occlusal splint (a mouthguard-like device) for people with “significant” clenching or grinding. The splint ensures the teeth wear away at the device rather than each other. Once I understood my problems, I bought a splint which I wear nightly.

I also saw a specialist physiotherapist who taught me muscle-relaxing exercises and massaged my cheeks from the inside, which felt painful but hugely helpful. It’s also costly, but mending broken teeth isn’t cheap, either.

After one trip to the physiotherapist, I already feel better. I figured this was also a wake-up call to reduce the impact of stress on my life. I’m now exercising more regularly and trying to weave relaxing activities into my day.

It’s been six months since I took these measures. I now wake far less often with headaches or painful cheeks, and I haven’t broken any more teeth.

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