Bruxism

We call bruxism the act of clenching and grinding the teeth.

It is very common for this fact to appear during sleep, but in many cases it occurs during the day, which is why it has come to be classified as primary or secondary bruxism according to the characteristics present in each patient.

El primary bruxism It is dental clenching during the day or at night without being associated with any serial pathology. When we talk about secondary bruxismIt is because the patient presents other types of problems at the neurological, psychological, stress or insomnia level, among others. All this causes it to occur uncontrollably.

Although this fact occurs mostly in adults, it is sometimes common to find this problem in the child and adolescent population. At a physical level, it causes wear of the dental enamel. being able to produce, if it is severe, fractures of some dental pieces. Also hypertrophy of the masticatory muscles, such as the masseter, which is one of the most important muscles when chewing. At the articular level it produces joint wear temporomandibular (TMJ)

It is common to find in patients headaches, earaches and excessive dental sensitivity together with sleep disturbance, which causes little rest for the person and the alteration of the other problems already mentioned. As a means of treatment, rest or protective splints are usually used so that the teeth are protected against the strong pressures that are produced. The splint is usually performed by dentists.

At the therapeutic level, through physiotherapy, massages are performed on the muscles of the face, neck and shoulders. (the latter are also altered due to bruxism, causing contractures and overload of that muscle) and various physiotherapeutic techniques such as dry needling, stretching or osteopathic techniques among the most common.

Physiotherapy together with the help of the discharge splint help to improve and prevent the problem of bruxism.