It is very important to understand that these type of antidepressant drugs can cause involuntary muscle contractions that can lead to grinding causing cracked, fractures teeth, restorations and even loss of teeth.
Link Between Medications and Bruxism?
In today’s world, everyone is being pushed to their limits in just about
every aspect that you can imagine. More is demanded with fewer resources and
less time. All this becomes a source of stress and anxiety and even depression
for the population as a whole.
This “epidemic” of depression and anxiety spurred the development of newer
medications with fewer side effects to help manage these conditions and hence,
the SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) were born in 1988. Since
then, recent reports show that the use of the SSRIs (i.e. Paxil, Zoloft,
Prozac, Celexa, Effexor, etc.) has increased more than 400 percent!
As dentists, we see on a regular basis the signs of bruxism or
clenching/grinding of the teeth, and some of it is the result of stress
and anxiety. But another factor that we have to keep in mind is that patients
are now taking more anti-anxiety and antidepressants than ever before in history.
It is often overlooked, but the SSRIs and even some of the SSNRIs (Selective
Serotonin Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors) often increase bruxism or
clenching and grinding effects at night.
This leads to patients having an increased frequency of headaches, jaw pain
and other symptoms of clenching/grinding. In my own practice, I have seen many
patients that have presented with increased frequency and intensity of symptoms
shortly after the patient starts on these medications. I have found that sometimes
a change in medication or reduction in the dosage with the help of the
prescribing medical doctor can help, but sometimes there seems to be little to
no effect.
In recent studies, there is support for a theory of how these medications
cause an imbalance in the brain, leading to a drug-induced bruxism that
sometimes does not go away with a decrease or cessation of the medication and
may even require other medications to help alleviate the bruxism.1
So the next time you see patients on one of these medications you might
want to keep this in mind, as the bruxism will cause your dentistry to fail
quicker and may be causing your patients a lot more issues.
References
1. Milanlıoglu,
A. (2012). Paroxetine-induced severe sleep bruxism successfully treated with
buspirone. Clinics, 67(2), 191–192.
http://doi.org/10.6061/clinics/2012(02)17
Jeff Lineberry, D.D.S., F.A.G.D., FICOI, Accredited Member-AACD, Spear
Visiting Faculty, and Contributi
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