Have you ever woken up with terrible head or jaw pain? Bruxism is a habit of parafunction which consists in the rhythmic clenching of the jaws and the grinding of the teeth which can develop at any age.

Usually, these jaw movements occur without being aware of them, during sleep for example. This parafunction is quite common, but that does not mean that it is not too damaging. Grinding and clenching will give you the morning headache and can spoil your smile and all that during a night's sleep.

Malocclusion and stress are the main causes of clenching and bruxism. Daily grinding can cause a fracture, abnormal mobility or wear down the teeth to the roots - this may sound extreme, but the teeth are hard and grinding them together is like grinding two stones together.