In short: you usually find out from your body, a dentist or a partner. Watch for a sore, tight or tired jaw when you wake, a dull headache at the temples, and teeth that are worn, chipped or sensitive. A partner may hear the grinding, and a dentist can see its marks on your teeth. Recording a few nights with your phone beside the bed can catch grinding loud enough to hear. Stress, alcohol, caffeine, smoking, some medicines and sleep apnea all make it more likely. A dentist can fit a night guard to protect your teeth.
Signs that you might grind your teeth
Sleep bruxism, the medical name, is jaw-muscle activity during sleep: grinding the teeth together or clenching them. You’re asleep, so the clues come afterwards:
- Your jaw is sore, tight or tired when you wake up, or your face or neck aches.
- A dull headache that starts at the temples, often in the morning.
- Your teeth are worn, flattened, chipped or loose, or have become sensitive to hot and cold.
- Earache with nothing wrong with your ears.
- Someone has heard you. Grinding can be loud enough to wake a partner.
How to find out for sure
- Ask whoever shares your room. A partner may have heard grinding, though only while they were awake.
- See a dentist. Dentists usually spot grinding during a routine check-up, from worn tooth surfaces and tender jaw muscles. Tell them about your symptoms and how you sleep.
- Record your nights. Put your phone beside the bed, charging, with the microphone uncovered. A recording that catches grinding gives the dentist something concrete to listen to.
- Record more than one night. Grinding comes and goes with stress, drinks and sleep, so a week shows more than one night.
Researchers grade sleep bruxism by the evidence: possible when it rests on what you report, probable when a dentist sees the signs, and definite when it’s measured with instruments, such as a sleep study that records jaw-muscle activity. A home recording is useful evidence to bring, not a diagnosis.
Not all of it makes a sound. Clenching is silent, so a quiet recording doesn’t rule it out.
What makes grinding more likely
The exact cause isn’t fully understood. These make it more likely:
- Stress and anxiety, the most common cause.
- Alcohol, caffeine and smoking.
- Snoring and sleep apnea. People who grind in their sleep are more likely to have other sleep problems.
- Some medicines, including some for depression, anxiety and sleep.
- Age. It’s common in young children and often fades by adulthood.
What helps
- Ask a dentist about a night guard. A splint made to fit your teeth keeps the upper and lower teeth apart while you sleep. It protects them from damage, though it may not stop the grinding.
- Work on stress: breathing exercises, regular exercise and a calm routine before bed.
- Cut down on alcohol and caffeine, especially in the evening, and stop smoking.
- Keep a regular sleep routine in a dark, quiet bedroom.
- For jaw pain, an ice pack wrapped in a towel or an over-the-counter painkiller helps, and give hard foods and chewing gum a rest.
Recording nights before and after a change shows you whether it makes a difference.
When to see a dentist or doctor
See a dentist if you grind your teeth and have damaged or sensitive teeth, or jaw, face or ear pain, or if a partner hears you grinding. Talk to your child’s dentist if your child grinds. See a doctor for help with stress, anxiety or smoking, or if you also snore loudly, stop breathing or gasp in your sleep, or feel sleepy in the day, which can be signs of sleep apnea.
How Sleep Talk Recorder & Snore helps
Sleep Talk Recorder & Snore is an iPhone and iPad app that records your night and shows you in the morning what it heard.
- It saves a short clip whenever a sound is loud enough, grinding included, so you can play it back in the morning. Sleep Talk doesn’t recognise grinding by itself, so a grinding clip may be unlabelled or carry the label of a sound it resembles, like snoring: listen to the night’s clips to pick it out. Turning Sensitivity up to High in Settings catches quieter sounds.
- You can keep and share what you found. Mark a clip as a favourite and share its audio, for example with your dentist.
- It labels the sounds that often come with grinding: snoring, gasps, coughs and breathing, using Apple’s on-device sound classifier.
- It shows when sounds happen. With sleep data in Apple Health, from an Apple Watch or another tracker, each sound is placed on your sleep stages.
Everything stays on your device. Sleep Talk is not a medical device and doesn’t diagnose bruxism or sleep apnea.
Common questions
How can I tell if I grind my teeth at night?
Watch for a sore or tired jaw when you wake, morning headaches at the temples, and worn or sensitive teeth, and ask whoever shares your room. A dentist can check your teeth for signs of grinding, and recording a few nights can catch grinding loud enough to hear.
Can my phone detect teeth grinding?
A phone beside the bed can record grinding that’s loud enough to hear, so you can listen to it in the morning. Recognising grinding automatically is harder: Apple’s built-in sound classifier has no category for it, so Sleep Talk saves the clip for you to listen to rather than naming it as grinding.
Is teeth grinding linked to sleep apnea?
They often occur together: people who grind their teeth in their sleep are more likely to snore and to have sleep apnea. If you also snore loudly, gasp or stop breathing in your sleep, or are sleepy in the day, talk to a doctor.
Does a night guard stop teeth grinding?
Not necessarily. A night guard keeps your teeth apart and protects them from damage, but you may still grind. Dealing with stress, alcohol, caffeine and smoking can reduce the grinding itself.
How common is teeth grinding in sleep?
In surveys, roughly one adult in eight says they often grind their teeth in their sleep, and it’s more common in children. Estimates vary a lot with how it’s measured.
Sources
- NHS: Teeth grinding (bruxism)
- Mayo Clinic: Bruxism (teeth grinding): symptoms and causes and diagnosis and treatment
- Lobbezoo F. et al. International consensus on the assessment of bruxism: report of a work in progress. Journal of Oral Rehabilitation, 2018.
- Manfredini D. et al. Epidemiology of bruxism in adults: a systematic review of the literature. Journal of Orofacial Pain, 2013.
General information, not medical advice. If you’re worried about your teeth, your jaw or your sleep, see a dentist or doctor.