How we know

Teeth wear in a specific way when they are ground: flat, polished facets that match up when the jaw slides sideways. Enamel does not wear like that from chewing. There may also be small chips at the biting edges, a scalloped tongue, or ridges on the inside of the cheeks.

Often the first complaint is not the teeth at all — it is waking with a tight jaw, or a dull headache at the temples that is gone by mid-morning.

Why it matters

Enamel does not regrow. Once the biting surfaces are worn through, the softer dentine underneath wears several times faster, teeth become sensitive, and the front teeth start to look shorter.

Grinding also loads fillings, crowns and implants far beyond what chewing does. It is a common reason restorations fail earlier than they should.

What a splint does

A night splint is a custom-made hard acrylic shell worn over the upper or lower teeth while you sleep. It does not stop you grinding. What it does is give the grinding somewhere else to go — the splint wears instead of your teeth, and it is far cheaper to replace than enamel.

It is made from a mould of your own teeth, so it fits closely and does not move around. The soft boil-and-bite versions from the chemist are made for sport, not for grinding, and in some people they make the clenching worse.

The other half of it

Grinding is strongly linked to stress and to disturbed sleep. A splint protects the teeth; it does not address why the jaw is working all night. Where sleep is the issue — snoring, waking unrefreshed, daytime tiredness — that is worth raising with your GP.

Getting it looked at

If you wake with a sore jaw, or someone has told you that you grind, mention it at your next check-up and we will look for the wear pattern. Related reading: teeth grinding and TMJ and jaw pain.