Migraines can be debilitating especially if you suffer from ones that make you feel sick and you end up having to take a couple of days off work. Even regular headaches can make you lose focus and have a negative impact on your life.
Did you know that headaches and migraines can be triggered by clenching of the jaw? The term is called bruxing with is a parfanctional habit. Contrary to common belief, functional habits such as chewing are not the main cause of the wearing of teeth. Parafunctional habits are the most destructive forces for a number of reasons. Whereas teeth rarely come into contact during normal chewing, grinding of teeth may occur 1–4 hours in a 24 hour period, most often during sleep. The amount of force placed on teeth during functional habits is 20–80 psi (0.14–0.55 MPa), but the pressure can range from 300 to 3000 psi (2.07 to 20.7 MPa) during parafunctional habits. Thats a minimum of 15 times more pressure!
The direction of forces during functional habits are placed vertically along the long axis of teeth, which is the least harmful because of the anatomical structure of the attachemnt of teeth to the bone. On the other hand, parafunctional habits direct their forces horizontally and that is when un due stress can occur on the TMJ (temporomandibular joint).
People who suffer from headaches, neck, shoulder and backache often have parafunctional habits. This kind of habit can damage your teeth, jaw joint and affect your chewing muscles. The treatment to reduce the force from bruxing is straight forward: an occlusal splint or nightguard can reduce the tension by 75%. Just ask your dentist about it and imagine less migraines and headaches in the future!
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