Nighttime bruxism occurs when you clench or grind your teeth during sleep. Some studies estimated that almost 8% of adults grind their teeth at night. Occasional grinding may not be harmful but when it happens nightly, may be associated with moderate to severe dental damage, facial pain, and disturbed sleep. If you wake up with a sore jaw, head and neck pain or a morning headache, there is a chance you’re grinding your teeth during the night. In some patients, enlarged jaw muscles develop on the sides of the face from this nighttime grinding.

Some people don’t like wearing a CPAP mask for treatment of their sleep apnea. Even though it is considered the gold standard for treatment, many forgo treatment because they don’t care for the way the mask fits or feel claustrophobic wearing something over their nose and mouth during sleep. For patients that are prescribed CPAP machines, up to 86% don’t comply with treatment. But not treating sleep apnea can have significant side effects including diabetes, high blood pressure, hypertension, congestive heart failure, atrial fibrillation, coronary artery disease, daytime sleepiness, and even sudden cardiac death. Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder in which a person stops breathing periodically during sleep.