Dentists and researchers aren’t in complete agreement about the cause of nightly tooth grinding (bruxism). But they do agree that it’s partly stress-related.
Since the year-end holidays can be some of the most stressful months of the year, we may be at risk for high stress more than at any other time. The Holiday Season is more than your ordinary daily grind—it’s much more stressful. You can actually lower your body’s stress response by inhaling deeply and exhaling completely. With mouth closed, slowly inhale until you cannot take in more air. Then slowly exhale, until your lungs feel empty.
What you’re doing is increasing the oxygen you take in, which causes you to relax. Try it the next time a stressful occasion arises, and for a few minutes just before bed.
About Yuri Kaneda, DDS
Dr. Yuri Kaneda was born in Japan and immigrated to the US when she was 4 years old with her family. She lived in Ohio, Nebraska, and Illinois before finally settling in the San Diego area. A graduate of Bonita Vista High School, she went on to the University of California Berkeley where she obtained her Bachelors in Microbiology and Immunology. After working for 2 years in growth plate research at University of California San Diego, she went to the University of California San Francisco Dental School for her Doctor of Dental Surgery degree. Upon graduation, she returned to San Diego where she worked as an associate in the practice of Drs. Morimoto and Yaryan, her childhood dentist. She then started her own practice in 1995 and has been at her present location since 1999 which happens to be across the street from her high school!
