Grinding and Clenching Cause Receding Gums

Do you grind or clench your teeth? If so, this bad habit can lead to complex problems within your mouth, including receding gums. You can improve your gum health by stopping this action, but it is also important to note that receding gums can cause additional problems, too. The action of grinding your teeth, or clenching them in itself is not bad. It is what these actions do when you allow this to happen frequently that you need to be concerned about.

Why Grinding and Clenching Is Bad
When you grind your teeth, or clench the teeth, this puts pressure on the teeth, forcing the teeth to move down. The force causes the teeth to move just enough to allow for a space to develop between the teeth and the gums. If you grind or clench your teeth often enough, the gums will begin to recede, or to fall off the teeth. In order for your teeth to remain healthy, the gums need to remain intact, up against your teeth, at all times. If this does not happen, the end result is that bacteria will take over.

Why It Matters
When you allow for receding gums to occur, the gum tissue becomes more vulnerable to the bacteria in the mouth. Bacteria loves those wet, warm locations under the gum line to call home and it reproduces in these locations at an astounding rate. When that happens, you risk the health of your gums. Many people who grind or clench their teeth on a regular basis, in fact, are more susceptible to gum disease because the bacteria is able to get into the gum lining and later into the actual bone tissue. This leads to periodontitis as well.

What To Do
Many people face a habit of grinding or clenching their teeth. This habit can be very hard to break, but the following tips can help.

• First, get in to see a dentist. The damage you do to your teeth and your gum line as a result of these actions needs help.
• Try to catch yourself in these actions and stop them.
• If you feel you cannot stop it, you may need to look for another outlet for your frustrations, which can then help protect your teeth.

Grinding and clenching the teeth will cause receding gums. Fix receding gums to avoid complex problems including gum disease and periodontitis. With help, you can do that.