Teeth Grinding and Jaw Clenching in the City of London
You notice it on the walk up from Bank station. Your jaw feels tight, your temples ache, and one tooth has started to twinge on cold coffee. If you have had a run of long days, tight deadlines and short nights, there is a good chance you have been grinding or clenching your teeth without knowing it.
Teeth grinding has a clinical name, bruxism. It happens while you sleep and also during the day, often while you are concentrating hard at a screen. Most people have no idea they are doing it. The first sign is usually something else entirely: a headache, a sore jaw, or a chip in a front tooth that seems to have appeared from nowhere.
This is a guide to what is actually happening, what it does to your teeth over time, and what can be done about it.
What teeth grinding and clenching actually are
Grinding is the side to side movement of your teeth against each other. Clenching is the static squeeze, holding your back teeth together under load without moving them. Plenty of people do both, at different times of day.
Sleep bruxism happens in cycles through the night and you have no conscious control over it. Awake bruxism is different. It tends to be a habit of concentration or tension, and it often shows up during focused desk work, a difficult call, or a commute.
The forces involved are considerable. Your jaw muscles are among the strongest in your body for their size, and at night they are not limited by the feedback that normally stops you biting too hard.
Why it is so common among City professionals
There is no single cause, and it is worth being honest that the evidence points to several factors acting together rather than one.
Stress and a raised state of alertness are strongly associated with bruxism, and a demanding working week supplies plenty of both. Disrupted or shortened sleep plays a part, as does caffeine late in the day and alcohol in the evening. Some medications are associated with it. So is snoring and disturbed breathing during sleep, which is why the two often turn up in the same patient.
If your working pattern involves early starts, late finishes, a lot of screen concentration and a compressed evening, you are carrying several of those factors at once.
The signs worth taking seriously
Dr Martin Zunde sees most patients with bruxism only after something visible has happened. These are the earlier signals:
A tight or tired jaw when you wake, or a dull ache around the temples
Teeth that feel sensitive to cold or to pressure, particularly first thing
Front teeth that look shorter, or edges that have flattened and lost their natural translucency
Small chips along the biting edges, or a filling or crown that keeps failing
Your partner mentioning a grinding noise at night
Clicking, catching or restricted movement when you open wide
A chipped edge on a front tooth is the one that usually brings people in. It is worth understanding that the chip is the symptom, not the problem. Repairing the edge without addressing the grinding tends to end with the repair failing too.
What grinding does to teeth over time
Enamel does not grow back. Once it is worn through, the softer dentine underneath wears considerably faster, which is why tooth wear tends to accelerate rather than progress steadily.
As the biting edges shorten, front teeth start to look squarer and more uniform, and the smile can look older than it should. Existing dental work takes the same load, so crowns, bridges and fillings are more likely to chip, debond or fracture. In more advanced cases the wear changes how your teeth meet, which makes any future restorative work more complex and more involved.
Catching it early genuinely matters here. Protecting sound tooth structure is far simpler than rebuilding worn teeth later.
How it is assessed
An assessment starts with a conversation about your sleep, your working pattern, your caffeine and alcohol, and any medications you take. Dr Martin Zunde will then examine the wear patterns on your teeth, check your jaw joints and muscles, look at how your teeth meet, and take photographs so that any change can be compared properly at your next visit.
Photographs are the part patients find most useful. Wear is slow, and it is very difficult to judge by eye whether a tooth has changed over a year. A record makes it objective.
If there are signs pointing towards disturbed breathing during sleep, that is discussed separately, because managing the two together gives a better result than treating the grinding alone. You can read more in the guide to anti-snoring devices in the City of London.
What treatment involves
There is no treatment that switches grinding off. The aim is to protect your teeth, settle the muscles, and reduce whatever is driving it. In practice that means some combination of the following.
A custom night guard. A guard made to fit your teeth takes the load instead of your enamel. It is made from an impression or a scan, so it fits closely and stays put, which matters because a guard that moves or feels bulky simply will not be worn.
Habit awareness for daytime clenching. Awake bruxism responds well to noticing it. Your teeth should be very slightly apart at rest. Most people who clench at a screen are surprised how often they catch themselves once they start paying attention.
Adjusting what you can control. Caffeine timing, alcohol in the evening, and a sleep routine that lets you wind down all make a measurable difference for some patients, though not for everyone.
Managing the jaw muscles. Where the muscles are persistently overworked and tender, treatment directed at the muscles themselves can be appropriate. This is assessed case by case and is not right for everyone. It is discussed alongside facial aesthetics because the same muscle groups are involved.
Restoring what has already worn. Once the grinding is controlled, worn edges can be rebuilt. Composite bonding can restore shape and length conservatively. Where wear is more extensive, a planned smile makeover sequences the work properly. If crowding is contributing to how your teeth meet, teeth straightening may form part of the plan.
The order matters. Protecting first and restoring second is what keeps the restorative work intact.
Fitting it around a City working week
An assessment is a single appointment and fits into a lunch break or an early slot. If a night guard is indicated, a scan is taken at that visit and the guard is fitted at a short second appointment. Routine general dentistry reviews then keep an eye on whether the wear has stopped.
If you are planning cosmetic work, it is worth raising grinding before you start rather than after. It changes how the treatment is planned.
Frequently asked questions
Can you grind your teeth without knowing it?
Yes, and most people do. Sleep bruxism happens without conscious awareness, and the first sign is usually a symptom such as jaw tightness, sensitivity or a chipped edge rather than the grinding itself.
Does a night guard stop you grinding?
No. A night guard does not stop the grinding, it protects your teeth from it. The guard absorbs the wear instead of your enamel. That distinction matters, because the underlying causes still need to be looked at.
Can a shop bought mouthguard do the same job?
A generic guard is not shaped to your teeth, so it tends to move, feel bulky and get left in the drawer. A guard made to fit your own teeth is more comfortable, which in practice means it actually gets worn. Fit is the thing that determines whether it works.
Is teeth grinding linked to snoring?
The two often occur together, and disturbed breathing during sleep is associated with bruxism. If you snore and grind, both are worth assessing at the same time, because addressing only one may not settle the other.
Can worn teeth be repaired?
Yes. Worn edges can be rebuilt once the grinding is under control, using conservative bonding for lighter wear or a planned restorative approach where wear is more extensive. Dr Martin Zunde will advise which is appropriate after assessing how much enamel remains.
Book an assessment near Bank
If you are waking with a tight jaw, noticing sensitivity, or you have chipped an edge on a front tooth, it is worth having it looked at before the wear progresses. Dr Martin Zunde sees patients at 77 Cornhill in the City of London, a short walk from Bank, Liverpool Street and Moorgate, with early and lunchtime appointments to suit a working week.
Get in touch to arrange an assessment.
About the author
Dr Martin Zunde is a Harley Street-trained cosmetic and implant dentist practising at 77 Cornhill in the City of London. He treats City professionals across general dentistry, tooth wear, smile makeovers, implants and facial aesthetics, with an emphasis on conservative treatment and natural-looking results.
