Biting Teeth in Sleep: Causes, Symptoms and Treatments

Medically Reviewed by Whistle Dental Team
Written by Dr. Priya Swami

Jan 23, 2026 · 8 min read

Biting teeth during waking hours or while you're asleep subconsciously either in the form of clenching, grinding or gnashing of teeth is called Bruxism. At night it is called Nocturnal bruxism or Sleep Bruxism. During day time Awake Bruxism.

Biting teeth is often related to stress or anxiety. Doing this in excess can lead to extra strain on your teeth and jaws which can manifest as headache, jaw pain , dental damage and many other issues.

Contents

what are the underlying factors / causes responsible for teeth biting or grinding?Symptoms or how it will be manifesting:PREVENTION STRATEGIES Treatment by Dentists STEPS FOLLOWED IN FABRICATION OF NIGHT GUARDS

what are the underlying factors / causes responsible for teeth biting or grinding?

So the question arises how to avoid this situation or what are the underlying factors / causes responsible for teeth biting or grinding. In short they can be listed as:

1. Stress and Anxiety

2. Life style habits - As drinking a lot of alcohol or caffeine or habit forming substances.

3. Certain Antianxiety medications called as Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors or Antidepressants.

4. Sleep Disorders as snoring.

5. Malaligned bite - Bite is not aligned properly or a person having some missing teeth. Jaw muscles may compensate by grinding or clenching if teeth are not fitting together properly into one another.

6. Vitamin D and Magnesium deficiencies have also been linked to bruxism. Low Vitamin D levels hampers calcium absorption leading to Neuromuscular dysfunction and spasm of Jaw muscles causing bruxism .Magnesium in the form of magnesium citrate and magnesium glycinate are found to be effective against bruxism.

7. Family History.

Symptoms or how it will be manifesting:

1. Flattened, chipped or fractured teeth - Wornout tooth enamel.

2.Senstivity or pain in teeth .

3. Stiff jaw muscles.

4. Facial pain, neck pain, popping and clicking sound in jaw.

5. Earache like pain but actually not associated with the ear.

6. Dull headaches.

7. Sleep problems.

8. If not addressed well in time can lead to damage to your teeth, jaws or fillings. Bruxism in the long run can crack or fracture your teeth .It may also lead to gum diseases and loss of teeth.

9. Difficulty in opening and closing of jaw leading to restricted mouth opening.

10. Cheek bite.

Important to Note : Natural tooth surface gone due to grinding of teeth as a result of bruxism does not come back .So natural tooth surface loss is lost forever . Though it can be replaced by artificial means. But the natural enamel or dentin if lost due to grinding of teeth is lost forever.

PREVENTION STRATEGIES

And as we all know our age old saying “PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE .” comes into play .

1.Find out ways to reduce your daily stress . You can go for meditation, yoga, breathing exercises, listening to music or you can get involved in the activity you like.

2 .Go for dental checkups. At least twice a year to must rule out the condition.

3. Avoid heavy alcohol consumption, habit forming substances and smoking.

4. Try to relax before your bed time .Your bedroom should be dark and quiet. Try to go to sleep on time and go to sleep at the same time if possible. As disturbed sleep also leads to night grinding.

5. Visiting a Dentist is a must if you have jaw pain or pain with stiffness in muscles of the face. Dentists will prescribe you some muscle relaxant before bed time which will relieve the spasm or stiffness in the muscles and help in relieving the pain. But that solution will only help you temporarily. You have to rule out the cause behind it so visiting a dentist is a must.

Treatment by Dentists

You will be given a mouth guard or a mouth splint which will cover all of your tooth surfaces and prevent further damage to your tooth surfaces. These mouth guards fit precisely on your teeth, worn during night time to protect your teeth from further damage .These are also called night guards. Night guards are made of a variety of materials like acrylic, Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA) and silicone. EVA doesn’t contain phthalates and is considered BPA free and is safe for making soft Night guards. It is tasteless, odourless and nontoxic.

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STEPS FOLLOWED IN FABRICATION OF NIGHT GUARDS

Fabrication of Night guards require professional expertise. First of all ,the impression of your upper and lower jaw is made , fabrication of the night guard is done using specialized equipment so that it will fit precisely in your teeth preventing them from further damage .

So here comes the role of Dentist :

1. To recognize the condition – Dentists by seeing your teeth can tell you about your habits. Basically chipped off, worn tooth enamel, flattened teeth is an indication of bruxism. Also pain in facial muscles because of spasm of muscles as a result of clenching and grinding of teeth.

2. Timely intervention to prevent further progression by prescribing night guards. If there is a need for any conservative management like medicines etc. needed, that also can be given by the dentist. Gentle massage and warm compresses may be advised to relieve the pain.

3. To do the corrections in your bite if needed as malaligned teeth and missing teeth also leads to bruxism . Malalignment can be treated by the Orthodontist (Specialist in correction of malaligned teeth). Missing teeth can be replaced by the Prosthodontist (Specialist for replacement of missing teeth). Both of them are available in Whistle .