How Do I Stop
Grinding My Teeth?

What teeth grinding actually is

Bruxism — the medical term for tooth grinding and clenching — comes in two forms:

Sleep bruxism happens at night during sleep, mostly outside the patient's awareness. It is associated with sleep arousals and is partly genetic. Bed partners often notice the grinding sound first.

Awake bruxism happens during the day, usually as clenching rather than grinding, often associated with stress or concentration. The patient is sometimes aware of catching themselves clenching.

Both cause similar damage to teeth: progressive wear of the biting surfaces, hairline cracks (which can lead to fractures and the need for crowns), tooth sensitivity, jaw muscle pain, and accelerated wear of any cosmetic dental work (composite bonding, porcelain veneers, crowns).

You usually cannot fully "stop" sleep bruxism — it happens unconsciously and is partly hardwired. But you can: 1. Protect the teeth with a night guard 2. Reduce its frequency with lifestyle changes 3. Address contributing factors (stress, sleep apnoea, alcohol, medication)

First-line: a custom night guard

The standard first-line treatment for sleep bruxism is a custom-fitted hard-acrylic night guard worn during sleep. The night guard:

- Protects the teeth from direct contact during episodes — the guard wears down instead of the teeth - Reduces jaw muscle activity in many patients (mechanism not fully understood) - Prevents tooth fractures that lead to expensive restorative work

A custom night guard at Tower Dental Blackpool costs £200–£350 depending on design. This is substantially cheaper than the consequences of unprotected grinding: a single fractured molar requiring a crown is £595, and a worn smile requiring restorative rebuild can run into thousands.

Over-the-counter "boil-and-bite" guards are cheaper (£15–£40) but provide much weaker protection: they fit poorly, are bulky, are usually too soft to provide proper protection, and most patients stop wearing them within a few weeks.

A custom guard is taken from a precise impression or digital scan of the teeth. It fits comfortably enough to wear nightly long-term, and is sufficiently durable to provide real protection.

Lifestyle changes that help

Five lifestyle changes that have evidence for reducing bruxism frequency:

1. Reduce alcohol consumption, particularly in the 3 hours before bed. Alcohol is one of the strongest amplifiers of sleep bruxism in the literature. 2. Reduce caffeine after midday. Caffeine fragments sleep and increases bruxism episode frequency. 3. Stop smoking if currently smoking. Nicotine is associated with increased bruxism. 4. Improve sleep hygiene — consistent sleep schedule, dark cool bedroom, no screens for 30 minutes before bed. 5. Address daytime stress — bruxism episodes are more frequent when daytime stress is high. Standard stress-reduction approaches (exercise, mindfulness, talking therapy where appropriate) translate to less night-time grinding.

When to investigate for sleep apnoea

A meaningful proportion of bruxism patients also have undiagnosed sleep-disordered breathing (snoring with airway obstruction, or full obstructive sleep apnoea). The grinding episodes are often associated with arousals from interrupted breathing.

Signs that warrant sleep apnoea assessment:

- Loud snoring noticed by a partner - Pauses in breathing during sleep noticed by a partner - Daytime sleepiness despite adequate sleep duration - Morning headaches - Witnessed gasping or choking during sleep

If any of these are present, a referral to a sleep clinic via your GP can be transformational — treating the underlying apnoea often substantially reduces or eliminates the bruxism. Untreated apnoea also has serious cardiovascular consequences entirely separate from dentistry.

What about Botox and other treatments

Botox injections into the masseter muscles can reduce bruxism severity and are sometimes offered for patients with severe muscle hypertrophy. Effects last 3-4 months. Not first-line — usually considered after night guard and lifestyle changes have not provided sufficient protection.

Occlusal adjustment (selective grinding of high spots in the bite) was once popular but is rarely recommended now — bruxism is not generally caused by bite imbalance.

Muscle relaxants and benzodiazepines can reduce bruxism but the side-effect profile makes them inappropriate for long-term use in most patients.

Biofeedback devices that detect grinding and emit a small alert showed early promise but have not entered mainstream practice.

The night guard remains the gold-standard first-line treatment, with lifestyle changes and (where indicated) sleep apnoea investigation as the supporting interventions.

Talk through your own case

If you grind your teeth and want a custom night guard, the £40 consultation at Tower Dental Blackpool includes a clinical assessment of any tooth wear, photographs, and a same-visit digital scan for guard fabrication where appropriate. The guard is fitted at a follow-up appointment 2 weeks later. Call 01253 353759.