Unfortunately there is no good evidence surrounding why we grind/clench our teeth and no one -size-fits all approach to treating TMD. We can’t stop you from grinding your teeth. What we can do is manage the symptoms and try and prevent acute flare-ups. We have a number of treatment options at our fingertips:

1. Education and self-care: this is the most important step. Understanding your condition and learning how to manage it is key. At your TMD assessment appointment, we will go through strategies on how you can take care of your symptoms at home.

2. Exercises: we will prescribe at-home exercises for you to do

3. Referral to physio: we work with physios who have a special interest in head and neck. They can do manual therapy to help relax tense muscles.

4. Occlusal splints: we can make thin but highly strong and comfortable mouth-guards to be worn over-night to try and counteract the side effects of tooth grinding in your sleep (nocturnal bruxism). These help prevent the teeth from chipping and breaking due to tooth grinding and clenching.

5. Medications: in certain cases we may want to prescribe medications to relax muscles, or use neurotoxin injections to relax the muscles.

6. Referral to other specialists:

– Sleep physicians: there are links between nocturnal bruxism and obstructive sleep apnoea

– Maxillofacial surgeons: if we suspect problems with the jaw joint itself