DT News - UK - Economic downturn blamed for bruxism

Dental Tribune International

Fri. 15 June 2012

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LONDON – According to recent reports, dentists have been warning that there has been an increase in the number of patients suffering with bruxism, or teeth grinding, since the start of the economic downturn.

Two contributing factors to teeth grinding are stress and anxiety, and many dentists feel that the current economic situation is the reason behind the surge in patients in recent years suffering with the condition.

According to reports, tooth grinding affects between 8 to 20 per cent of the population; however, many experts believe it may be much more prevalent than this. Dublin-based dentist Dr Michael Crowe said that teeth-grinding usually occurs at night and can go unnoticed.

“Symptoms will include things like soreness or stiffness of the jaw, headaches, or even people becoming more aware of wear on their teeth,” he said in the report.

“So there certainly seems to be a significant increase in the prevalence of this and as stress and anxiety are directly related to this, we can reasonably assume that in the current (economic) clime from the last number of years, this must have had some contribution to this phenomenon.”

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