If You've Been Grinding Your Teeth at Night During the Pandemic, You're Not Alone

If pandemic stress is causing you to grind your teeth, you’re not alone. Ashley Munzing has been grinding her teeth every night to the point of excruciating pain.

“Every day kind of feels like somebody punched me in the side of the face and I have a big bruise,” Munzing told Inside Edition.

Her husband says it’s so bad, it wakes him out of his sleep.

“I wake up every morning with headaches. I have soreness and tightness in my jaw, in my muscles, down here in my neck,” Munzing said.

Dr. Mariya Malin's Connecticut dental practice is one of many across the country reporting an alarming uptick in teeth-grinding.

"I've never seen so many broken teeth, clenching, grinding,” Malin said.

When you grind your teeth, they can wear down over time and lead to chips and cracks. To help alleviate nighttime grinding, Malin fitted Munzing with a customized retainer, but was shocked to find holes in the plastic. “I'm literally grinding through the plastic,” Munzing said. She’ll be getting a new retainer.

For daytime grinding, Malin says keeping the tip of your tongue between your teeth will keep you from clenching your jaw.

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