Today we are reviewing a paper that relates why the Upper Cervical Spine alignment may have a big influence on the way the jaw works and can even be a key player in things like grinding your teeth (or Bruxism), and TMJ problems.
Stress or anxiety management.
If you grind your teeth because of stress, you may be able to prevent the problem by learning strategies that promote relaxation, such as meditation. If the bruxism is related to anxiety, advice from a licensed therapist or counselor may help.
Get your neck moving
Then, move your head slowly upwards counting to 10. When you reach 10, your neck should be back in its normal position. Hold for 10 seconds and start over until your muscles feel loosened. Concentrate on keeping your face and jaw relaxed while doing these exercises.
Another option is to take anti-anxiety medication to force your jaw muscle to relax. These muscle relaxants for bruxism are typically in pill form, such as diazepam (known commonly as Valium) and cyclobenzaprine.
Stiff Necks Cause Face, Jaw and Sinus Pain
Sometimes these trigger points and/or stiff neck joints can also lead to ear pain or sensation of loss of hearing. Clenching the teeth or grinding the teeth (bruxism) can lead to pain from overuse of these muscles.
Oral health specialists often point to too much stress and certain personality types as causes of bruxism. Bruxism often affects people with nervous tension, such as anger, pain, or frustration. It also affects people with aggressive, hurried, or overly competitive tendencies.
Teeth grinding can be caused by being deficient in Vitamin D, as well as low levels of calcium. Patients who are suffering from stress and anxiety may be at a higher risk to grind their teeth. Magnesium supplements have been shown to relax muscles in patients' faces and jaws which can stop them from grinding.
Cutting out habits that promote jaw tension, such as chewing gum, can also help you relax your jaw. Magnesium supplements can help relax the small, fast twitch muscles in your jaw and reduce grinding further.
Risk factors that have been shown to exacerbate SB are the following: (1) smoking, caffeine, and heavy alcohol drinking; (2) type A personality—anxiety; (3) sleep disorders such as snoring, sleep apnea, or PLMS (concomitant in 10%).
Once you have been fully diagnosed with bruxism and have created a treatment plan, then see a chiropractor. A chiropractor will help you stop your teeth from grinding at night by addressing the underlying issue. In the case of most people, the cause of teeth grinding is a sleep disorder or stress.
According to experts, the best position for sleep is on your back, as it could reduce pressure on your jaw. So if you tend to sleep on your stomach or on your side, try to get into the habit of sleeping on your back instead.
Physiotherapy aims to address bruxism in a few ways: Reduce the daytime clenching. Whilst the night-time clenching may be an uncontrollable habit, the daytime clenching can be overridden with conscious awareness, relaxation exercise, and jaw muscle retraining to reduce unwanted tension.
Teeth grinding (also called bruxism) is often related to stress or anxiety. There are things you can do to help and treatments available from a dentist or GP.
Changes in facial appearance caused by Bruxism can be reversible to some extent. With appropriate care and treatment, it is possible. Reducing jaw muscle activity can help the jaw muscles recover, leading to a reduction in muscle size and an improvement in the jawline.
While there is no cure to completely stop teeth grinding, treatment can reduce its frequency. View Source , decrease its impact, and relieve symptoms. In addition, home care tips can make it easier to cope with sleep bruxism.
Conclusions: Sleep bruxism was associated with vitamin D deficiency and low consumption of calcium and was also associated with increased scores of anxiety and depression. Further investigations should be performed to check if vitamin D and calcium supplementation could relieve sleep bruxism.
Calcium and magnesium.
May help the jaw muscle relax, although there are no scientific studies using them for TMJ problems.
Magnesium. Magnesium deficiency can lead to tense, spastic muscles. It also contributes to bone strength, nerve function, and cartilage health. In combination with calcium, these two supplements can work together to help relax your jaw muscles and relieve your TMJs of excess strain and tension.
Vitamin C may help lower your stress levels, Magnesium promotes a better night's sleep and B-Complex Vitamins can reduce stress and depression. Adding these vitamins to your diet can help overcome your bruxism.
Previous studies showed that calcium and magnesium deficiencies could be implicated in the development of bruxism through regulating the nervous system and muscular function [15,16,17].
Grinding or bruxism involves moving the jaw with the teeth held together. This results in substantial visible wear and flattening of the teeth which is usually obvious both to dentist and patient. Clenching is simply holding the teeth together and tightening the jaw muscles.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. In conclusion: Medication with SSRIs may induce sleep bruxism and/or awake bruxism.
Stress and anxiety are common causes of muscle tension. A person may clench their jaw or grind their teeth without noticing it, when stressed, and over time this can cause the muscles to tighten up. Stress or anxiety can also cause a person to clench their fists or lead to tension in the shoulder and neck muscles.