Is Stress Making You Clench Your Teeth?

If you believe stress has been causing you to clench your teeth more, you’re not alone. Bruxism, or the act of clenching or grinding your teeth, typically at night, has long been related to the emotional wellbeing or mental health. In fact, a 2019 study showed that people who clench their teeth exhibited a higher than average level of stress hormones. This supports additional research that your psychological and emotional wellbeing is very closely tied to whether or not you might be clenching or grinding your teeth.

As a whole, clenching teeth stress as a broader condition has been closely observed to be a psychosomatic issue, meaning it’s very closely tied to one’s stress level and mental health. In addition to stress, other emotional and psychological conditions such as anxiety, depression, and others are also closely linked to bruxism and its side effects. During a fight or flight response, the human body can tighten specific muscle groups as a natural reaction to stressful stimuli. Specifically, your jaw muscle (the masseter) is one specific muscle group that can tighten up as a result of stress. The slight and consistent tightening of the masseter muscle can lead to soreness, tightness, or inflammation of the masseter muscle, which then leads to clenching your teeth as a way to relieve that muscle group.

An occlusal guard, otherwise known as a bruxism splint, or a night guard, can definitely help. Among other things like cognitive behavioral therapy, prescription medication, and even botox, this is one of the easiest and proven ways to combat the harmful effects of bruxism. An occlusal guard is typically purchased from your dentist, which is custom made according to the exact shape and size of your teeth by the dental lab. These can often be cost-prohibitive but many online dental labs, such as Chomper Labs, are going direct to consumer to make a custom made occlusal guard at a much more affordable price point.

The occlusal guard works by acting as a protective barrier in absorbing and distributing the clenching forces of your teeth, often during sleep but sometimes during the day as well. It may be daunting to evaluate your bruxism as a whole and attempt to consider the potential underlying psychological factors involved, but a night guard is definitely a good place to start!