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Are Teeth Grinding and Nasal Congestion Related?

Bruxism and Nasal Congestion

Experienced dentists can see the destructive changes to the health and structure of your teeth from teeth grinding at night time.

It isn’t uncommon at all for patients to present to our office reporting that they have to use a nightly guard in their mouth to try and reduce the destructive changes to the teeth from this grinding.

Bruxism and Nasal Congestion

Actually many cases of bruxism (teeth grinding) are directly related to night time nasal congestion. When the nose is congested while we try and sleep it causes Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome (UARS). This is a condition where the congestion results in resistance to airflow through the upper airway. It creates vibration of the soft palate and base of tongue resulting in snoring and partial airway collapse while we sleep.

The UARS results in poor quality and fragmented sleep and more importantly it causes a reduction in deep sleep.

In deep sleep the chewing and biting muscles become completely relaxed and bruxism will not occur. This allows for restoration of the chewing muscles, relief from grinding, as well as general mental, psychological, and physical restoration.

Implications of Teeth Grinding

The changes the dentist sees in your teeth are not only destructive to the teeth but indicative that you may be having a significant reduction in the necessary deep sleep or maybe even having Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). This can lead to serious health issues such as cardiac arrhythmia, heart attack, hypertension, obesity, and diabetes. In addition the snoring may be irritating a bed partner and you may not feel restored and ready for the day.

If you have been told by your dentist that you have a teeth grinding issue, understand that it may be a sign of a much more serious issue. Come for a consultation and a Home Sleep Test (HST) to get to the root cause of this condition.

Schedule a Consultation

Teeth grinding and nasal congestion can have serious implications for your health. If you are concerned about your bruxism or congestion, call us at (512) 601-0303 to schedule your consultation with us today!

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Posted in: Sinus and Nasal

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