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Why Do I Wake Up With Jaw Pain in the Mornings?

Waking up with a morning headache is no fun

Some people wake up in the morning with jaw pain. And most people think they may have a cavity or a “bad tooth” that’s causing them jaw pain. However, there are many other reasons why people have jaw pain when they wake up.

Morning Jaw Pain – Many Causes

There are many reasons why you may be waking up with jaw pain. One of the common reasons for morning jaw pain though is the clenching or grinding of the teeth while the patient is sleeping. While there are no accurate statistics to tell us how prevalent this condition is, a large number of people wake up every day not just to the sound of their alarm, but to regular jaw pain as well.

Medication – Pain Relief with Many Side Effects

People are quick to take an Aspirin or a Tylenol to dull the pain. But these medications have their own side effects after prolonged use. More importantly, taking these medications does not fix the problem, but merely masks the pain.

Why Do We Grit Our Teeth While Sleeping

No one knows for sure why some people clench their teeth in their sleep while others don’t. Stress is always considered a major factor. Breathing problems while sleeping like snoring or sleep apnea also can result in the patient clenching their teeth. Regardless of what causes clenching, the damage that this disease causes is profound. Inability to open and close the mouth comfortably, difficulty chewing, jaw pain, and headaches are only a few of the symptoms that people suffer from as a result of clenching. Gone untreated, clenching can lead to TMJ problems.

How to Treat Teeth Grinding

While we are awake, we can control (more or less) what we do with our bodies. People who clench their teeth while awake can be trained to stop this harmful habit. However, you cannot train a sleeping person not to clench. For this reason, people who suffer from this disease need an appropriate “mouthguard” for when they sleep. Without the proper mouthguard (or no mouthguard or the wrong type) the symptoms will continue to worsen, resulting in irreversible damage to the jawbones, the teeth, and ultimately the face.

Our San Marcos dentist is trained in treating this group of disorders. To learn more about this horrible disease, visit our webpage dedicated to jaw pain. If you or a loved one suffers from any of these symptoms, contact us so that our dentist can help you find relief. We are located in San Marcos, California. Call us at (760) 510-9009.

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Dental Nightguard Saves You Thousands

A dental nightguard can help prevent jaw pain.

It is common knowledge that some people clench or grind their teeth during sleep. You yourself or a loved one may be suffering from this nighttime habit.

And while patients have been told that they probably clench their teeth in their sleep and they should have a nightguard, they don’t know what happens if they don’t get a nightguard.

When we bite down on our back teeth, our chewing muscles generate a tremendous amount of force. During waking hours when we eat our food we can control how hard we bite down.  While sleeping, we no longer have this control. So the forces generated by the clenching during sleep can be much higher which places a great amount of stress on the teeth. These repetitive periods of stress on the teeth result in the teeth developing micro-fractures. Over time, these micro-fractures lead to an actually visible fracture where a piece of a tooth breaks off.  At other times the nerve in the tooth gets damaged. There is a whole host of other problems that are caused by excessive nighttime clenching such as locked jaws and headaches.

The bottom line is that nighttime clenching and grinding of the teeth end up causing injuries to the teeth and the surrounding structures. These injuries could be minimized (or even avoided altogether) with the use of a properly fitted custom mouthguard.

There are different kinds of mouthguards for different problems. For example, people who have headaches due to their nighttime clenching need a different type of nightguard versus someone who is cracking and chipping their teeth.

Mouthguards range in price from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. However, they more than pay for themselves by saving you the cost of the dental treatment for fixing a broken tooth or a root canal therapy on one or multiple teeth.

Custom-made nightguards have proven to be effective in reducing the damaging effects of clenching or grinding.  If you have been told in the past that you clench, or if you know you do even if no one has mentioned it, talk to your dental healthcare provider or contact us and Dr. Eslampour can help you determine if a nightguard is appropriate for you.