Methods 1: relax the mandible.
1. Apply a warm wet cloth to the mandible before going to bed. Wet the towel or face towel with warm water, wring it out and apply it on both sides of the mandible for several minutes. Towel temperature is slightly higher, which helps to relax muscles and reduce grinding at night. Dry hot compress is also helpful, but wet hot compress is better for relaxing muscles.
Taking a bath with warm water has a similar effect and helps to relax before going to bed.
2. Relax the tense facial and mandibular muscles during the day. When I am stressed during the day, I always grind my teeth unconsciously, resulting in tight muscles in my chin and neck, and grind my teeth when I sleep at night. Try to keep the mandibular muscles relaxed during the day. When you feel stressed, remind yourself to loosen your teeth. Set an alarm clock to remind yourself to relax your chin regularly and help you get rid of the bad habit of gnashing your teeth.
3. Do some simple mouth muscle exercises to stretch your chin. There are some exercises that can stretch and relax mandibular muscles and reduce night grinding. Practice the following two simple exercises every day: keep your mouth shut and separate your teeth. Put your tongue on the upper jaw, don't touch your teeth, and try to keep this posture. This exercise can relax the jaw muscles and prevent you from grinding your teeth at night.
Put your hand on the mandibular joint, that is, in front of your ear. Open your mouth slowly, hold it for 5- 10 seconds, and then close your mouth slowly. Practice three times a day, each time 10 minutes, stretching the mandible.
4. Keep your teeth apart during the day. The upper and lower teeth will bite together only when chewing or swallowing, and will not contact directly at other times. You may be used to grinding your teeth during the day, so try to separate your teeth consciously during the day. Whenever you feel your teeth touching each other during non-meal time, try to relax and then separate.
If you need to be reminded, you can put your tongue between your upper and lower teeth to prevent biting.
5, eat soft food to prevent mandibular muscles from being tight. When eating hard or chewy food, the mandibular muscles must chew the food harder. This can cause tension in the mandibular muscles. Eat softer food to relax your chin. Foods that often cause problems include old meat, chewy bread, apples and other hard fruits, and chewing gum. Eat yogurt, eggs, soup, stew or steamed vegetables instead.
Eating soft food can also help to relieve jaw pain caused by night grinding.
6. Don't bite anything other than food. You may be used to biting pencils or ice cubes. This will make the mandibular muscles tense and aggravate night grinding. If you have this bad habit, try to get rid of it to relax your chin. Biting something other than food can also damage teeth. You don't want your teeth to break, do you? You'd better get rid of this bad habit.
Method 2: Drug treatment
1. Wear anti-molar braces at night to cushion the pressure caused by tooth collision. Although braces can't stop you from grinding your teeth, they can at least protect your teeth and jaw. Made of soft plastic, it can cushion the pressure caused by tooth collision when grinding teeth at night. The dentist can tailor the proper braces for you. It is recommended to consult a dentist. You can also buy ready-made anti-molar braces in pharmacies or medical supplies stores, but they may not fit as well as customized braces.
If you often grit your teeth, the dentist may also advise you to wear braces during the day. However, this may affect the voice.
2. Massage the head and neck to relax the chin. Physiotherapists or masseurs can massage around the chin to relax the muscles that cause problems. Try this massage and see if it helps you. You can also massage your sore neck, chin and head. Although it may not be as effective as professional massage, it can at least play some soothing role.
3. If grinding teeth at night is caused by antidepressants, ask the doctor if you can change the medicine. Antidepressants can cause nocturnal molars, especially selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, such as paroxetine, fluoxetine and sertraline. If you take antidepressants and often grind your teeth at night, ask the doctor if you can change the medicine. Don't stop taking medicine without asking the doctor. Doing so will do more harm than good, so you must consult a doctor first.
4. Take medicine to relax muscles before going to bed. If the situation is serious, the doctor may prescribe muscle relaxants to treat molars. These drugs will relax muscles and prevent the chin from tightening at night. Take the medicine strictly according to the doctor's instructions. The doctor may only give you short-term medication, so be sure to cooperate with other steps, such as reducing stress and relaxing jaw muscles.
Method 3: Develop healthy habits.
1, relieve stress and relax muscles. Continuous stress is the main risk factor for nocturnal molars. If you often feel stressed, doing some stress-reducing activities can help reduce night grinding. Stress management skills such as exercise, meditation, acupuncture or psychological counseling are very helpful to improve molars.
Sometimes you may be under pressure without knowing it. Even if you don't feel stressed, there is no harm in doing some stress-reducing activities in your daily life.
2. Get enough sleep at night. Lack of sleep will aggravate grinding teeth at night, so have a good sleep every day. Generally speaking, adults need to sleep for 7-9 hours every night to get enough rest. Try to make your sleep time reach this range. If you suffer from insomnia, sleep apnea and other sleep disorders, you should seek medical advice as soon as possible. These sleep disorders often lead to grinding teeth at night.
There is a relaxing sleep ceremony every night. Sleeping under pressure will make you grind your teeth at night. Develop good sleep habits and do some relaxing activities before going to bed, which can relax muscles and reduce grinding teeth at night. Turn off the electronic equipment before going to bed. The bright light of mobile phone, TV and computer will stimulate your brain and make you unable to relax.
Activities suitable for relaxation include reading, listening to light music, stretching, meditation or bathing.
4. Avoid caffeine and alcohol at night. Both substances will stimulate muscles and cause grinding teeth. Never eat coffee, caffeinated tea or alcoholic drinks in the afternoon and after dinner. Herbal tea contains no caffeine and can help you relax at night.
5. Do some exercise during the day. Exercise can effectively reduce stress and improve the condition of grinding teeth at night. If you are not active at ordinary times, now is the best time to make a change. Try to do 2.5 hours of exercise every week for the best results. Good results can be achieved without strenuous exercise. Walking every day can improve health and reduce stress.
In addition to going to the gym, you can also participate in more fun group sports such as basketball and baseball.
6. Stop smoking or taking drugs. Nicotine and some drugs are irritants, which will aggravate night grinding. If you smoke or take any medicine, you'd better give it up as soon as possible. If you have never smoked or taken drugs, never try. No matter what kind of cigarette you smoke, it is harmful to your health. You'd better give it up.
Drugs such as cocaine and ecstasy are especially bad for grinding teeth.
Tip: If you feel sore when grinding your teeth at night, you can take non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to relieve the pain.
If you have the habit of grinding your teeth, you must see a dentist regularly to find tooth damage in time.
If the condition of your teeth grinding affects the people you sleep with, you can ask them to use a white noise machine to cover up the sound of your teeth grinding.