No matter how busy you are at work, getting enough sleep at the end of the day should always be your priority. Without sufficient sleep, your work will suffer. Poor-quality sleep also causes bruxism or nighttime grinding. If you are overworked and you suspect that you might grind your teeth while asleep, you need to take action before you damage your teeth.
Bruxism can leave you with a very expensive dental bill if you do nothing to remedy it. But if you are overworked, this is probably what is causing your bruxism.
1. Stress
If work has left you stressed out, this stress has likely contributed to your nighttime grinding habit. You might also find that you grind or grit your teeth throughout the day especially if your job is highly stressful. When you go to bed stressed, the stress hormones in your body interfere with your sleep and cause you to grind your teeth involuntarily.
2. Caffeine
Your body should be relaxed before bedtime. But if you are drinking too much coffee throughout the day, your body will be stimulated and stressed due to the high amount of caffeine in your system. Much like stress hormones, caffeine affects your brain chemicals in a negative fashion and leads to bruxism.
3. Sleep Deprivation
The combination of work stress coupled with too much caffeine will also leave you even more stressed. This is because the combination of stress and caffeine means that you'll struggle to get a good night's sleep most nights. And when you do manage to sleep, the caffeine and stress hormones flooding your body will cause you to grind your teeth.
As a result, stress at work can leave you waking up with toothache and headaches. And eventually, bruxism could cause enough damage for you to require extensive dental restoration, which could be expensive.
Ask Your Dentist for a Mouthguard
Although you need to deal with your stress problem head-on, you should also see your dentist about getting a custom-made mouthguard to protect your teeth in the meantime. Dental mouthguards are far superior to store-bought mouthguards because they fit over your teeth snugly, providing you with the protection and comfort you need while you sleep at night.
If work stress is causing you to clench and grind your teeth at night, stop drinking coffee and reduce your stress by meditating and sleeping earlier. And if your bruxism returns in future, you can use your mouthguard to protect your teeth until the stressful period passes.
