Bruxism is excessive teeth grinding or jaw clenching. It is an oral parafunctional activity; i.e., it is unrelated to normal function such as eating or talking. Bruxism is a common behavior; reports of prevalence range from 8% to 31% in the general population. Several symptoms are commonly associated with bruxism, including aching jaw muscles, headaches, hypersensitive teeth, tooth wear, and damage to dental restorations. Symptoms may be minimal, without patient awareness of the condition. If nothing is done, after a while many teeth start wearing down until the whole tooth is gone.
The periodontium is the specialized tissues that both surround and support the teeth, maintaining them in the maxillary and mandibular bones. The word comes from the Greek terms περί peri-, meaning "around" and -odont, meaning "tooth". Literally taken, it means that which is "around the tooth". Periodontics is the dental specialty that relates specifically to the care and maintenance of these tissues. It provides the support necessary to maintain teeth in function. It consists of four principal components, namely:
Riggs' disease, also known as pyorrhea of a toothsocket or gingivitis expulsiva, is a historical term for periodontitis, The condition was described as a purulent inflammation of the dental periosteum. It was named after American dentist John Mankey Riggs (1811–1885).
Cementoenamel junction (CEJ) is defined as the area of the union of cementum and enamel at the cervical region of the tooth. It is a slightly visible anatomical border identified on a tooth. It is the location where the enamel, which covers the anatomical crown of a tooth, and the cementum, which covers the anatomical root of a tooth, meet. Informally it is known as the neck of the tooth. The border created by these two dental tissues has much significance as it is usually the location where the gingiva attaches to a healthy tooth by fibers called the gingival fibers.
The periodontal ligament, commonly abbreviated as the PDL, is a group of specialized connective tissue fibers that essentially attach a tooth to the alveolar bone within which it sits. It inserts into root cementum on one side and onto alveolar bone on the other.
The Nociceptive trigeminal inhibition tension suppression system, is a type of occlusal splint that is claimed to prevent headache and migraine by reducing sleep bruxism. Sleep bruxism is purported to lead to a hyperactivity of the trigeminal nerve, often triggering typical migraine events. The hyperactivity of trigeminal neurons during trigemino-nociceptive stimulation is a proposed cause of migraine and is correlated with imaging of migraine sufferers. The objective of the NTI-TSS is to relax the muscles involved in clenching and bruxing, thus supposedly diminishing the chances for migraines and tension headaches to develop through the reduction in nociceptive stimulation normally caused by parafunctional activity. It is sometimes used for temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMD).
Periodontology or periodontics is the specialty of dentistry that studies supporting structures of teeth, as well as diseases and conditions that affect them. The supporting tissues are known as the periodontium, which includes the gingiva (gums), alveolar bone, cementum, and the periodontal ligament. A periodontist is a dentist that specializes in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of periodontal disease and in the placement of dental implants.
Dental attrition is a type of tooth wear caused by tooth-to-tooth contact, resulting in loss of tooth tissue, usually starting at the incisal or occlusal surfaces. Tooth wear is a physiological process and is commonly seen as a normal part of aging. Advanced and excessive wear and tooth surface loss can be defined as pathological in nature, requiring intervention by a dental practitioner. The pathological wear of the tooth surface can be caused by bruxism, which is clenching and grinding of the teeth. If the attrition is severe, the enamel can be completely worn away leaving underlying dentin exposed, resulting in an increased risk of dental caries and dentin hypersensitivity. It is best to identify pathological attrition at an early stage to prevent unnecessary loss of tooth structure as enamel does not regenerate.
Crown-to-root-ratio is the ratio of the length of the part of a tooth that appears above the alveolar bone versus what lies below it. It is an important consideration in the diagnosis, treatment planning and restoration of teeth, one that hopefully guides the plan of treatment to the proper end result.
The gingival fibers are the connective tissue fibers that inhabit the gingival tissue adjacent to teeth and help hold the tissue firmly against the teeth. They are primarily composed of type I collagen, although type III fibers are also involved.
John Mankey Riggs was the leading authority on periodontal disease and its treatment in the United States, to the point that periodontal disease was known as "Riggs' disease."
William John Younger (1838-1920) was an American dentist who performed some of the earliest and most groundbreaking research in the field of periodontology.
In periodontal disease, not only does the bone that supports the teeth, known as alveolar bone, reduce in height in relation to the teeth, but the morphology of the remaining alveolar bone is altered. The bone destruction patterns that occur as a result of periodontal disease generally take on characteristic forms.
In dentistry, debridement refers to the removal by dental cleaning of accumulations of plaque and calculus (tartar) in order to maintain dental health. Debridement may be performed using ultrasonic instruments, which fracture the calculus, thereby facilitating its removal, as well as hand tools, including periodontal scaler and curettes, or through the use of chemicals such as hydrogen peroxide.
Irving Glickman was an American clinical researcher in the field of periodontology and author. He was one of the first to classify furcation defects and the role of occlusal trauma on periodontal disease and was described as "the father of periodontology."
A periodontal abscess, is a localized collection of pus within the tissues of the periodontium. It is a type of dental abscess. A periodontal abscess occurs alongside a tooth, and is different from the more common periapical abscess, which represents the spread of infection from a dead tooth. To reflect this, sometimes the term "lateral (periodontal) abscess" is used. In contrast to a periapical abscess, periodontal abscesses are usually associated with a vital (living) tooth. Abscesses of the periodontium are acute bacterial infections classified primarily by location.
In dentistry, numerous types of classification schemes have been developed to describe the teeth and gum tissue in a way that categorizes various defects. All of these classification schemes combine to provide the periodontal diagnosis of the aforementioned tissues in their various states of health and disease.
Clinical attachment loss (CAL) is the predominant clinical manifestation and determinant of periodontal disease.
Tooth mobility is the horizontal or vertical displacement of a tooth beyond its normal physiological boundaries around the gingival area, i.e. the medical term for a loose tooth.
