Grinding or clenching your teeth while awake may be related to anxiety, stress, or frustration. Sometimes it is a habit, or even a coping strategy. However, grinding teeth during sleep is considered a sleep-related movement disorder. The concern is that people do not control these movements during sleep, and significant damage to teeth may result, as well as disrupted sleep, headaches, earaches, sore jaw muscles, or TMJ. Dentists are usually the first health care provider to identify the grinding, and they will review possible contributing factors such as alcohol, smoking, stress, poor teeth/jaw alignment, and medications and discuss devices to protect the teeth from further damage.
Occasionally, the dentist will ask the patient to consult with a sleep specialist to see if sleep apnea might be a factor. Several studies have shown that people with sleep apnea are prone to grinding their teeth. There are theories to explain why sleep apnea and teeth grinding during sleep might influence each other’s frequency, but nothing has been proven. Regardless, if sleep apnea is present, the dentist can alter the design of the teeth protective device to also help treat underlying sleep apnea.