Today, I’d like to answer the question of why you end up grinding your teeth when you are doing nothing or when you are relaxed. This question was asked by someone who understands that teeth grinding is related to stress but wonders why it happens even when they are relaxed and doing nothing.

Being relaxed doesn’t mean that the stress has gone away. When you are relaxed, unresolved stress comes to the surface. The best way to explain this is to imagine that you are in a smelly or stuffy room. When you are busy, like watching a movie, your senses are focused on the movie, so you don’t notice the smell as much. But when you switch off the movie and relax, you end up noticing the smell. The smell was always there, but you were concentrating on something else.

Similarly, when you are busy, your conscious mind uses defence mechanisms to prevent you from facing the original or unprocessed stress. When you relax, this stress comes to the surface. Since your mind has gotten accustomed to coping with stress by teeth grinding, it triggers this habit to provide temporary relief.

Chronic stress often stems from past events that caused a lot of stress but were never fully processed or made peace with. These unprocessed emotions are stored in the subconscious mind. When you are busy, you may not notice them, but when you relax, they come to the surface. Your mind, associating any kind of stress with teeth grinding, triggers this habit unconsciously.

Hope that makes sense. Relaxing or doing nothing doesn’t mean your body is fully relaxed. It’s an opportunity for your body to communicate unresolved issues. This is why relaxing and doing nothing can be beneficial, as it brings these issues to your awareness. When you grind your teeth while relaxed, it means there’s something from the past still affecting you. Dealing with these underlying issues can help you reach a state of true relaxation, where the past doesn’t negatively impact your present.

Note from the Author

If you’re ready and you’d like my help with overcoming chronic teeth grinding and clenching habits for Improved Oral Health and Reduced Stress, then you can book a FREE BREAKTHROUGH CALL with me HERE. Happy healing 💙💙. Feel free to share and comment! Use this information with caution, it comes from my own thoughts & bias, experiences and research😊. Disclaimer: I am not a Dentist, but a therapist specializing in offering support and guidance in addressing the psychological factors contributing to bruxism.