If you are aware of the fact that you may often find yourself grinding your teeth during the day then you may also be guilty of teeth grinding at night. The act of grinding one’s teeth while sleeping or unconsciously while awake is a well known sleep related disorder known as Bruxism. Bruxism along with other sleep related disorders like periodic limb movement disorder or PLMD are among the leading causes of sleep related problems that patients suffer from and if you are one of these people the first thing to do is to have your sleep related disorder diagnosed by a physician.
The diagnosis of Bruxism is fairly simple as compared to other sleep related disorders like periodic limb movement disorder. Patients who suffer from Bruxism have symptoms like migraines, neck and head aches, tinnitus or a ringing in their ears, receding gums and damage to their teeth caused by grinding or gnashing of the teeth against each other. The treatments for Bruxism range from simple things like oral inserts or splints that prevent the teeth from grinding against each other when the patient gnashes or clenches his or her jaw. There are more advanced kinds of splints as well called NTI splints but if used incorrectly then these can cause more damage than they remedy. There are also new remedies that take a different approach to the treatment of Bruxism such as Botox injections. A highly diluted Botox which is a toxin normally acts as a muscle relaxant and when injected into the facial muscles of the jaw it relives Bruxism.
For periodic limb movement disorder on the other hand there are no remedies that provide immediate effects to the patient. There are no known cures and when treated with the same or similar medications known as anti-Parkinsons medications the patient must keep taking the medication in order to experience relief from periodic limb movement disorder. The symptoms return once the medication is stopped.