17th July 2020

Common Reasons Why You’re Clenching Your Jaw At Night

Do you ever wake up in the morning and find that your jaw feels sore and a minor headache pain has occurred? It can be puzzling to understand how you subconsciously do this. Perhaps it’s because you slept in an awkward position or the actions that your jaw has taken throughout the day has caught up to you in the evening.

There can be many reasons why you’re clenching your jaw at night, including one of the points made above or you’re experiencing bruxism where you experience your teeth clenching at night whilst you sleep. This condition can be relatively difficult to detect as teeth grinding commonly doesn’t project noise whilst you do it.

Considering the symptoms of Bruxism can be relatively painful at times, it’s important to understand the reasons why you’re clenching your jaw at night. In doing so, you can help to find the source of the problem and be better prepared to overcome the issue.

1. Build up of stress

When you experience high levels of stress, your body tends to feel rather tense and causes it to become stiff. This feeling of tension can also translate to your mouth as you’re unable to relax whilst you go to sleep.

How significant your jaw clenching is can be impacted by how you deal with the stress you have. If you feel as though stress is impacting your sleep, consider discussing the matter with your dentist or another medical professional. They’ll be able to advise on techniques that can help to relieve stress which can include breathing exercises, meditation and relaxation.

2. Misalignment with your teeth

In other cases, Bruxism isn’t caused by mental concerns but the physical autonomy of your teeth and mouth. Over time, if your teeth have become misaligned or your bite has become uneven you’re more likely to experience clenching your jaw at night.

Visiting a dentist about this issue can help to resolve your problems. Bespoke dental splints can be fitted to help align your teeth and jaw and separate them from the grinding issues you have.

3. You suffer from a sleeping disorder

Another cause for clenching your jaw at night are sleeping disorders. Studies show that there is a link between sleeping disorders and Bruxism. Sleep apnea is considered a severe form of sleeping disorder. It involves a complete collapse of the air passage whilst you sleep, causing your oxygen levels to dip.

The body’s natural reaction to this is clenching your teeth to prevent the pause of breath and wake the body up. Due to the process of sleep apnea, the common symptoms for the condition are tiredness, headaches and consistent movement whilst you sleep.

How to resolve clenching your jaw at night

If you feel as though you suffer from Bruxism, here at Dental Solutions we can offer a consultation to understand the problem and recommend how you can get to the bottom of the problem.

We offer a range of treatments to overcome Bruxism issues for our patients and ensure you get a good night’s sleep. Call us today or book an appointment.

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