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Waking up with swollen gums is not a pleasant experience and before you attribute it to some dental problem, check out if you having the habit of unconsciously grinding your teeth. Yes, bruxism or teeth grinding causes swollen gums and, over a period of time, can cause your teeth to crumble. Horrifying thought, isn’t it? Since it is an unconscious habit, what can you do to get rid of it? Here are 5 effective tips that can help you get rid of this habit and protect your teeth from further damage.

1. Ask Your Dentist For A Mouth Guard – Like your security watchman, a mouth guard for grinding teeth is a plastic cap like device that is fit over your teeth. So, when you grind your teeth, the grinding force gets redistributed and protects your teeth. And, if you are worried about looking weird, then relax. No one will know what you have over your teeth.

2. Give yourself a mouth massage – You give your body massages to relax it. So, why not a massage for your mouth? Strange as a mouth massage sounds, it is one of best ways to relax the jaw muscles and ease away your tensions. One of the reasons for bruxism is stress and massaging you jaw and face can help relax these muscles. Just remember not to rub too hard. Use circular motions gently.

3. Use De-stressing Techniques – Since now you know that stress is one of the major causes of bruxism, try and work it out of your body. Use tried and tested techniques like exercising, listening to music and others to de-stress. You can also meditate to relax your body and mind. When the muscles of your body relax, your jaw will stop the chewing motion.
One of the most effective methods of relaxing your body is to close your eyes and breathe deeply. Then imagine that each part of your body is relaxing.

4. Fulfill Your Physical And Emotional Needs – Is ignoring your physical and emotional needs causing you stress enough to grind your teeth? Well, what are you waiting for? Go and take care of them. Remember, stress will only cause you to grind your teeth more. So you need to effectively work towards fulfilling your needs, whatever they are.

5. Quit Bad Habits – Habits like excessive consumption of alcohol, chewing gums or your pen caps or the back of your pencils, can only get your jaws into the habit of chewing. When they don’t get their regular quota of chewing gums, pens or pencils and others, they will take to grinding teeth, your teeth. Why let your jaws ruin your perfect teeth. Just get rid of bad habits!

Remember that if you don’t work towards stopping teeth grinding, your teeth will soon become a thing of the past instead of this habit. Take care of your stress and follow the tips given about to relax your jaw and facial muscles. Work consciously to stop bruxing.

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