Bruxism in Adults: Stress, Teeth Clenching, and Support Options
Have you ever woken up with a dull ache in your jaw? Maybe a lingering headache that wasn’t there when you went to sleep? Or the muscles along your cheeks feel tight, almost bruised, as if you’ve been clenching them for hours? This might be a sign of bruxism, which is the unconscious grinding or clenching of teeth.
Aside from bruxism being a dental issue, it can also be a sign of stress, anxiety, or frustration that is being stored rather than expressed. We might notice it as we’re sitting in a traffic jam trying to get to work or when we have a particularly stressful deadline. Or, we might even only find out we’re clenching or grinding our teeth when a partner points out there’s a faint scraping sound at night.
While dentists can treat the symptoms of bruxism, it may also be important to understand the root causes of it. For this reason, this page aims to explore teeth grinding stress and bruxism anxiety symptoms by discussing:
- What bruxism is and its symptoms
- How stress and emotions trigger bruxism
- The health impact of bruxism
- The therapy for stress relief to treat bruxism
- Where to find professional support for bruxism anxiety symptoms
- Answers to commonly asked questions about jaw clenching and mental health
What Is Bruxism?
Bruxism is when we involuntarily grind or clench our teeth – a behavior that can happen when we’re awake or asleep. For instance, we might notice ourselves clenching our teeth during times of concentration or stress. Or we might only find out we’re doing it after a dentist notices the wear on our teeth.
There are two types of bruxism:
- Sleep bruxism: This occurs at night and is considered a sleep-related movement disorder.1 It is typically involuntary, meaning that even if we feel calm during the day, we might grind our teeth because our nervous system is unknowingly activated.
- Awake bruxism: This happens during the day and is usually linked to frustration, tension, or intense concentration.
Signs and Symptoms of Bruxism
Because grinding may happen subconsciously or during the night, we might not always realize it’s a problem until the discomfort becomes hard to ignore. Alternatively, a dentist might point out dental damage from grinding. Therefore, it’s important to pick up on the signs to prevent long-term pain or damage.
You might have bruxism if you notice:
- Flattened, chipped, or cracked teeth
- Jaw tension or soreness, especially after waking or long periods of concentration
- Pain or pressure that radiates from the temples or behind the ears
- Clicking or popping of the jaw, also called “temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder”
- Feeling muscle fatigue around the cheeks or mouth
When we’re feeling stressed or anxious, tension can build up, and the body often channels this buildup into our muscles. The jaw, being one of the strongest muscles in the body, becomes an outlet for that unspoken strain.
How Stress and Emotions Trigger Bruxism
This response is the brain’s reaction to a sense of threat or danger.3 Therefore, one of the ways our nervous system prepares us for action is by tensing our muscles. The result can sometimes turn into bruxism, where the tension settles in the jaw. But what kind of emotional or psychological events lead to this tension?
The Psychological Side of Bruxism
When the body stays in a prolonged state of alert, it struggles to relax, even during rest. This is why we might grind our teeth in our sleep or clench our jaw during the day without realizing it. The act of tightening the jaw can feel almost like bracing – an attempt to stay in control when situations or emotions feel uncertain.
Certain emotions tend to intensify this pattern. For example:
Bruxism and anxiety symptoms keep the nervous system on edge and make teeth grinding more severe4- Muscle tension can surface when we suppress frustration and anger that have no physical outlet
- Perfectionism and overcontrol may make us feel perpetually “on,” unable to relax or release tension
- Trauma and jaw tension are associated with more TMJ disorder pain and awake bruxism5
Even positive stress, such as excitement or anticipation, can produce the same physiological reaction. The jaw, rich with sensory nerves and close to emotional centers in the brain, becomes a kind of emotional amplifier. Each clench or grind is the body’s attempt to manage emotions that feel too large, too fast, or too unspoken.
Health Impacts of Untreated Bruxism
The constant pressure from grinding teeth can impact many areas of your life, both physical and psychological. Here are ways TMJ and stress can disrupt daily life:
Physical Health Consequences
Bruxism causes constant wear and tear on the teeth, and this can create damage such as enamel erosion, cracked fillings, and increased tooth sensitivity. The repeated strain could also cause inflammation, limited mobility in the jaw, and persistent pain. Further, you might develop tension headaches or migraines related to jaw stress.
Emotional and Mental Health Effects
The physical discomfort of bruxism can feed back into stress and anxiety, creating a perpetual loop. For instance, you might find yourself having difficulty sleeping because of the discomfort, which can lead to irritability, difficulty focusing, and fatigue. This exhaustion can become another source of stress, lowering your tolerance for discomfort and making you more emotionally reactive.
Bruxism may also disrupt your quality of life because the simple acts of talking, eating, or smiling can become uncomfortable. Therefore, coping with tension, anxiety, and bruxism is not just about protecting your teeth, but also allowing yourself to finally rest and relax.
Mental Health Treatment Options for Managing Bruxism
Sleep bruxism treatment means finding ways to address both the physical strain and emotional patterns that are causing you to clench or grind your teeth. Healing starts with helping your nervous system relearn how to relax. Some ways to do that are:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT helps us identify patterns that are contributing to chronic tension or pressure. We might find out that there’s a link between perfectionistic thinking, a fear of mistakes, or difficulty letting go of control, and the clenching or grinding of the teeth. Through CBT, we can learn to identify these automatic thoughts and replace them with more balanced and realistic ones.
Not only can CBT help us identify the cause of bruxism, but it can also help manage pain by addressing our thoughts and feelings around it.6 This approach can teach us how to relax so we’re not feeding into the perpetual loop of tension, pain, and anxiety.
Mindfulness and Biofeedback
Two approaches that help with paying attention to bodily sensations are mindfulness and biofeedback. Mindfulness, specifically, is a great stress management therapy. With mindfulness, we’re taught to notice thoughts and sensations without judgment. Instead of responding or reacting to thoughts and feelings, we learn to let them go.7 Simple awareness exercises, like scanning the body for tightness or unclenching the jaw when stress builds, can break long-standing cycles. This approach is especially effective for stress and anxiety – and has even shown effectiveness for pain.8
Biofeedback is another mind-body approach that focuses on helping us gain control over physical stress symptoms like heart rate, breathing, and muscle tension – including in the facial and jaw muscles.9 Using sensors to measure muscle activity, we can see, in real-time, how stress affects the jaw. With practice, awareness of tension becomes second-nature, allowing us to relax consciously rather than reactively.
Somatic and Trauma-Informed Therapies
Chronic grinding or clenching can sometimes be a result of past stress or trauma that becomes stored in the body. Somatic therapy and EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) help regulate the nervous system by focusing on body awareness and emotional release. Somatic therapy uses breathwork and movement to release stored tension and emotions in the body.
EMDR stimulates both sides of the brain using back-and-forth movements like tapping or eye movements. By thinking about a traumatic memory during this process, EMDR helps to reprocess these memories so they lose their emotional power.10
Mission Connection: Anxiety Support for Bruxism
Mission Connection understands that bruxism is often more than a dental concern – it’s a sign of how deeply stress can live in the body. Using evidence-based approaches like CBT and EMDR with mindfulness practices for relaxation, our goal is to help you bridge the gap between your body’s need for calm and your mind’s drive to stay in control. In doing so, you may find that relaxation feels natural again, not forced.
Bruxism doesn’t have to define your nights or your mornings. We’re here to help you with daytime and nighttime anxiety symptoms. Reach out to Mission Connection to begin restoring balance and reclaiming comfort in your daily life.
FAQs About Bruxism
If teeth grinding stress or bruxism anxiety symptoms are affecting your daily life, you may have some persisting concerns or questions. We’ve provided the following answers to commonly asked questions in the hope of providing further clarity.
1. How Do I Fix Bruxism?
The most effective ways to fix bruxism include both using a mouth guard to protect your teeth and addressing the underlying causes, like stress and anxiety. Learn ways to manage stress, notice tension, and protect your teeth.
2. What Is the Main Cause of Bruxism?
3. Can Medication Cause Teeth Grinding?
Yes, as a side effect, certain medications can cause teeth grinding or worsen bruxism you may already have. Medications that may have bruxism as a side effect are:
- SSRI antidepressants, such as sertraline, fluoxetine, and paroxetine
- SNRI antidepressants, such as venlafaxine and duloxetine
- Stimulants like Adderall and Ritalin
- Antipsychotics like Risperidone and Olanzapine
- The mood stabilizer, lithium
If you notice bruxism after taking medications, it’s important to speak to your healthcare provider about your concerns.
4. How Does Mission Connection Provide Treatment for Bruxism and Stress?
Mission Connection provides integrative, personalized therapy that considers the connection between your emotional health, physical symptoms, and daily stressors. Whether you’re managing anxiety, perfectionism, or unresolved tension, our clinicians can help you build awareness, strengthen emotional regulation, and find physical ease again.
References
- Yap, A., & Chua, A. (2016). Sleep bruxism: Current knowledge and contemporary management. Journal of Conservative Dentistry, 19(5), 383. https://doi.org/10.4103/0972-0707.190007
- Zieliński, G., Pająk, A., & Wójcicki, M. (2024). Global Prevalence of Sleep Bruxism and Awake Bruxism in Pediatric and Adult Populations: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 13(14), 4259. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm13144259
- Schmidt, N. B., Richey, J. A., Zvolensky, M. J., & Maner, J. K. (2007). Exploring human freeze responses to a threat stressor. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 39(3), 292–304. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2007.08.002
- Sutin, A. R., Terracciano, A., Ferrucci, L., & Costa, P. T. (2010). Teeth grinding: Is emotional stability related to bruxism? Journal of Research in Personality, 44(3), 402–405. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2010.03.006
- Knibbe, W., Visscher, C. M., & Lobbezoo, F. (2025). Exploring post-traumatic stress among patients at a clinic for orofacial pain and dysfunction. Journal of Dentistry, 156, 105656. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdent.2025.105656
- Nagi, R., Ravipati, V., Thakkar, R., Altuhafy, M., Hashmi, S. F., & Khan, J. (2025). Effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy in managing painful temporomandibular joint disorders -A systematic review of randomized clinical studies. Journal of the California Dental Association, 53(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/19424396.2025.2474834
- American Psychological Association. (2019, October 30). Mindfulness meditation: A research-proven way to reduce stress. https://www.apa.org/topics/mindfulness/meditation
- Goldberg, S. B., Tucker, R. P., Greene, P. A., Davidson, R. J., Wampold, B. E., Kearney, D. J., & Simpson, T. L. (2017). Mindfulness-based interventions for psychiatric disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 59, 52–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2017.10.011
- Ratanasiripong, P., Kaewboonchoo, O., Ratanasiripong, N., Hanklang, S., & Chumchai, P. (2015). Biofeedback Intervention for Stress, Anxiety, and Depression among Graduate Students in Public Health Nursing. Nursing Research and Practice, 2015, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/160746
- EMDR Institute. (n.d.). What is EMDR? https://www.emdr.com/what-is-emdr/
- Khoury, S., Carra, M. C., Huynh, N., Montplaisir, J., & Lavigne, G. J. (2016). Sleep Bruxism-Tooth grinding Prevalence, Characteristics and Familial Aggregation: A large Cross-Sectional Survey and Polysomnographic Validation. Sleep, 39(11), 2049–2056. https://doi.org/10.5665/sleep.6242
