603 LIVING / HEALTH stances, including injury, genetics and teeth clenching or grinding, can cause the TMJ to dysfunction and lead to symptoms such as jaw soreness, headaches, earaches, clicking that accompanies jaw movement and a locked jaw. Habitual clenching or grinding can also chip or crack teeth and can even cause the gums to recede.
“30 years ago, maybe 20% of the patients I saw had real [TMJ-related] issues … now close to 100% of the people are [clenching and grinding] at an extreme level.” — David Bloom, D.M.D.
Sign of the Times: COVID Clenching Jaw pain? A jaw that clicks? Join the club. BY KAREN A. JAMROG / ILLUSTRATION BY MADELINE McMAHON
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urveys show that the majority of Americans have felt increasingly stressed during the past year or so. No surprise there. Now, the consequences of chronic stress are beginning to surface as people seek help for an array of mental and physical ailments that stress can cause or exacerbate, from insomnia and depression to heart disease. Indeed, even our pearly whites have suffered as they’ve literally borne the brunt of
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life in modern times. Delayed dental care due to the pandemic created its own set of problems, but many dentists have also seen a spike in temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder. While the exact cause of TMJ disorder can be difficult to identify, emotional distress is considered a contributing factor, at a minimum. We each have a TMJ, or jaw joint, in front of each ear where the lower jaw connects to the skull. A range of circum-
Earlier this year, the American Dental Association reported that more than 70% of surveyed dentists said they have seen an increase of teeth grinding and clenching among patients, and more than 60% of dentists said they’ve seen a rise in TMJ disorder symptoms in their patients. “I see it a lot, even in younger people,” says Keith Levesque, D.M.D., of Levesque Dentistry in Nashua. Most often, he says, TMJ disorder involves jaw muscles that are overworked from clenching or grinding habits that many people do not realize they have. David Bloom, D.M.D., of New England Dental Arts in Salem, says that these days, “almost everyone over the age of 15” grinds or clenches their teeth. He estimates that while “30 years ago, maybe 20% of the patients I saw had real [TMJ-related] issues … now close to 100% of the people are [clenching and grinding] at an extreme level.” Bloom says, however, that the surge shouldn’t be chalked up solely to the tough year-plus that we’ve had; he believes tech-driven lifestyles have helped drive up incidence rates over time. The constant stream of alerts, messages and distractions that most people are exposed to all day, every day, he says, adds up to digital over-
