Dentists say more people are grinding teeth as stress from COVID-19 pandemic continues

Metro Atlanta dentists say they’re seeing more patients coming in who are grinding their teeth and clenching their jaws. This as we are months into the pandemic, and dentists say stress is to blame.

Megan Brown says over the summer she noticed an acute onset of pain on the left side of her mouth. Brown told Channel 2′s Carol Sbarge she wasn’t sure what was going on. She finally went to her dentist.

Dr. Eddie Yates discovered Megan had been grinding her teeth. She’s not alone.

Yates says a lot of his patients are telling him they’ve been clenching their jaw or grinding their teeth. Yates says that is heavily related to stress.

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Brown says she’s not surprised during this pandemic. She says it impacts every part of our lives, including how you communicate with friends, how you see family, and how you interact at work.

Brown says overall it’s an added stressor in life right now.

Yates says some people are reporting headaches or jaw pain. He says he helps most of his impacted patients with a night guard worn while sleeping. He says it doesn’t prevent the patient from clenching or grinding but it prevents damage to the opposing arch of teeth.

Brown got a night guard two weeks ago and says she’s fortunate she got it before there was any real damage. Yates says the best way to clench and grind less is to find ways to de-stress.

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Cox Media Group