If you’re grinding your teeth at night, it could actually be damaging your gums to the point that you’ve developed gum disease. Bruxism on its own can cause a number of issues, but when you’re grinding your teeth and dealing with other oral health problems at the same time, everything can be made worse. We’ll help you deal with your bruxism as well as these other conditions so you can be healthy and in less pain.
How to Bruxism Cause Gum Disease?
When you grind your teeth at night, you clench up your jaw and force your teeth to move against each other. On its own, bruxism doesn’t cause gum disease, but it can make gum disease worse if you already have bacteria in your gums. The additional stress on the teeth and gum as well as the damage bruxism can cause makes it much easier for infections to spread.
Does Gum Disease Cause Bruxism?
There’s not as easy to say that your bruxism was caused by or influenced by gum disease, but there could be a link if you are very worried and anxious over your oral health. If you unconsciously deal with stress by grinding your teeth, your worry over your gum disease may cause this. Fortunately, this tooth grinding is usually temporary and goes away once you deal with gum disease and know your oral health is fine.
What Can We Do for You?
If you’re dealing with bruxism and gum disease, we’re here to help. We will clean your teeth and get down under the gumline to remove all of the bacteria that is causing the infection. We may give you antibiotics to help clear up the rest of the infection, plus we’ll examine your teeth to see how bruxism has damaged them.
Don’t delay-both bruxism and gum disease can get worse or cause additional damage if you don’t treat them quickly. Give us a call today to schedule an appointment.
