Teeth grinding can cause headaches and damage, dental experts say

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- Channel 7 and N.Y.U. are helping to provide free dental screenings on Tuesday and Wednesday.

We want to focus on something a lot of people don't realize they're doing -- grinding their teeth.

There are some ways to keep it from happening.

"I would say I am a very stressed individual," says patient Deb Maxwell who has been grinding her teeth for 30 years.

Bruxism is the medical name for grinding teeth. Some researchers say 10 percent of us do it. Others say it is more life half of us. Some don't even realize they are doing it or the damage it does.

"I never realized I grind my teeth at night because I was asleep," says Maxwell.

The damage done can cause headaches and crack teeth to bits.

Some ways to calm the grinding include yoga and mediation. But the best way to protect your teeth is with a mouth guard designed to eliminate the friction. They run from $10 to $500, but the custom-made, expensive versions work best. Our jaws are very powerful.

Now that Deb has her custom guard, things are better.

The free dental screenings begin on Tuesday and last until Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the N.Y.U. Colleges of Dentistry and Nursing in Kips Bay. Eyewitness News meteorologist Lee Goldberg will show us what to expect at the screening on Eyewitness News on Monday at 4 p.m.