Teeth clenching and grinding (also called bruxism), can cause excessive wear and damage to your teeth, potentially resulting in cracks, fracture and exposure of nerve. It is often related to stress or anxiety, also may be linked to sleep problems like snoring and sleep apnoea. The excessive grinding can also lead to noticeable facial and jaw muscle pain, often causing joint (TMJ) problems.
There is no treatment that can completely eliminate or cure teeth grinding during sleep, but several approaches can decrease episodes and limit damage to the teeth and jaw, like stress reduction, medications and occlusal splint (sometimes called night guards).
This case showed the severe grinding caused exposure of the nerve, which was very painful. The tooth still could be saved with root canal treatment. Unfortunately, extraction was chosen because of the cost.
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