Headaches & Dental Stress: Teeth Grinding, Bite Problems, Muscle Pain Headaches and Dental Stress:
Teeth Grinding, Bite Problems, Muscle Pain

Headaches from Dental Stress

Did you know that many tension headaches are dental in origin? Some signs that your headache might have dental origins include pain behind the eyes, sore jaw muscles or "tired" muscles upon awakening, clicking or popping jaw joints, head and/or scalp that are painful to the touch, and teeth grinding. Our Minneapolis/St. Paul area office can make a determination and assist you with solutions to these common problems.

Teeth Grinding

Silver Lake Dental treats many people suffering from teeth grinding in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. Teeth grinding (also known as bruxism) keeps many Minneapolis/St. Paul area residents in constant pain. The pressure that is generated from grinding the teeth can result in 100 to 600 pounds of pressure per square inch resulting in possible tooth loss, jaw pain, and headaches. Wearing a night guard can help alleviate the teeth grinding problem. Contact our Minneapolis/St. Paul area practice for additional information.

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Bad Bite/Tired Bite

The muscles which control your jaw and hold your head upright are very complex. Many people do not realize that every time they swallow, their upper and lower teeth must come together in a firm way to brace the jaw against the skull. We swallow over 2000 times each day and night! If your bite is unstable, as from poorly aligned teeth or even a missing tooth, the muscles must work harder to bring the teeth together. Teeth that do not interlock properly can cause serious obstructions in normal jaw functioning.

Today, there is a growing realization that a common cause of tension headaches is a bad bite. How can your bite cause a headache? Tension headaches result from muscle strain, or contraction. When muscles are held tight for long periods of time they begin to ache. Headaches from dental stress are a type of muscle tension headache. A tension headache may be on one or both sides of your head. Or, it may surround your head as if a steel band were wrapped around it. The pain feels like a dull, non-throbbing ache.

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Referred Pain

The pain may be felt in the cheeks or the jaw joints. Many times, however, the pain is "referred" to other areas of the head. Referred pain is when a pain originates in a part of the body that differs from the area where it is felt. Even a single tooth can refer pain to the head.

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Muscle Imbalance

Other muscles may also become involved. Your head is delicately balanced on top of your spinal column by muscles in your jaw, neck, shoulders, and back. Your head weighs approximately 15 pounds - the weight of an average bowling ball! Imagine your head as a baseball balanced on top of a pencil by a number of rubber bands. When muscles are tense, they shorten. Now imagine shortening just one of those rubber bands. Some rubber bands would stretch, some would shorten, and the baseball would be thrown off kilter! Similarly, when even a single jaw, neck, or shoulder muscle becomes shortened, all of the other muscles are forced to overwork to keep the head balanced on top of the spinal column. We see then that dental headaches originate from an unstable bite which cause the muscles of the jaw, head, and neck to overwork and become painful. Once the muscles become painful, a vicious cycle begins. The pain makes you feel tense and uptight. This worsens the muscle spasm, which in turn increases the pain.

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Did You Know That...

• One in eight Americans suffer from recurring headaches that are so severe they cannot carry on normal living!
• An estimated 80% of all headaches occur from muscle tension.
• Approximately 40% of all "healthy" individuals suffer from chronic headaches.

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If you think you have dental-related headaches and have symptoms such as a clicking or sore jaw, pain behind the eye, or teeth grinding, and you live in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, contact our New Brighton office today.