Bruxism Self-Check
Teeth clenching and grinding often go unnoticed. This short self-check helps you review symptoms you may have during sleep and during the day, changes you may have noticed in your teeth and jaw, and factors that have been linked to bruxism. At the end, you can prepare a summary to take to your dentist.
Important: This self-check does not diagnose bruxism and does not replace an examination. Your answers are processed only on your own device; they are never sent or stored anywhere.
Questions
- Has a bed partner or someone close to you told you that you grind your teeth during sleep?
- When you wake up, do your jaw muscles feel tired, tight or painful?
- Do you wake up with pain around your temples or with a headache?
- During the day, especially when you are tense or concentrating, do you notice yourself clenching your teeth?
- During the day, do you notice yourself bracing your jaw muscles even when your teeth are not touching?
- During the day, do your jaw muscles feel tired or painful?
- Have you noticed worn teeth, or cracks or breaks in your fillings or crowns (or has your dentist mentioned them)?
- Are your teeth sensitive to hot or cold foods and drinks?
- Have you noticed tooth marks along the edges of your tongue or a white line inside your cheeks?
- Do you have pain, limited movement or a locking feeling in your jaw when opening your mouth or chewing?
- Have you recently been under a lot of stress, anxiety or emotional strain?
- Do you smoke, drink alcohol or consume a lot of caffeine (coffee, tea, energy drinks)?
- Do you take any medicines regularly?
- Do you have sleep problems such as snoring, pauses in breathing during sleep or waking up often?
How should the results be understood?
An international consensus report describes three levels of bruxism assessment. An assessment based only on what a person reports is called possible bruxism. When it is based on findings from a dental examination, it is called probable bruxism, and when muscle activity is measured and confirmed with devices (for example, in a sleep study), it is called definite bruxism. Because this self-check relies only on your answers, it can offer at most a “possible” level assessment.
Reference: Lobbezoo F, Ahlberg J, Raphael KG, et al. International consensus on the assessment of bruxism: Report of a work in progress. J Oral Rehabil. 2018;45(11):837-844. https://doi.org/10.1111/joor.12663