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Many of you are probably familiar with the problem - grinding and clenching your teeth at night, known as “bruxism” in technical terms.

Usually it is the partner who makes the person concerned aware of the nocturnal activities, as the patient does not even notice them while sleeping.

But even during the day, many people use their teeth to reduce their stress - the teeth act as a valve for the increasing stress in everyday life and at work.

The teeth are only there for chewing and swallowing. If you measure the mere contact time between the upper and lower teeth of a person who does not grind their teeth, one comes to just a few minutes a day. So it is not surprising that the hours of grinding can have devastating effects on the teeth in the long run - it can lead to cracks and breaks in the tooth, the tooth nerve can die off as a result of the constant overload, and the tooth support system can be severely damaged. This in turn results in the bone breaking down and the teeth becoming loose at some point.

However, the grinding does not only have a negative impact on the teeth, but above all has a strong impact on the temporomandibular joint and the associated muscles and ligaments.

And because the masticatory muscles are closely related to the neck, shoulder and back muscles, chronic overload can significantly reduce the patient's quality of life.

This manifests itself primarily through morning headaches, tension in the neck, pain in the face area, back pain or even tinnitus.

In the case of “grinding”, it can be useful to wear a so-called bite splint. This splint has the effect that the jaw joint relaxes, the reflexes are switched off and the patient finds his own balance again.

After detailed diagnostics, the splint is manufactured in our dental master laboratory after taking an impression and is usually worn at night. Initially still unfamiliar, however, the typical symptoms are often quickly relieved and you get used to wearing the night splint. This not only protects the joint from further unphysiological wear and tear and the muscles from overexertion, but above all the teeth. Because without a splint, severe damage to the tooth substance and the tooth support system can occur in the long term.