Bruxism (often in the form of case reports). Examples include: Early diagnosis of bruxism is advantageous, but difficult. Early diagnosis can prevent damage that may be incurred and the detrimental effect on quality of life. A diagnosis of bruxism is usually made clinically, and is mainly based on the person's history (e.g. reports of grinding noises) and the presence of typical signs and symptoms, including tooth mobility, tooth wear, masseteric hypertrophy, indentations on the tongue, hypersensitive teeth (which may be misdiagnosed as reversible pulpitis), pain in the muscles of mastication, and clicking or locking of the temporomandibular joints. Questionnaires can be
Bruxism often initially deny clenching and grinding because they are unaware of the habit. Often, the person may re-attend soon after the first visit and report that they have now become aware of such a habit. Several devices have been developed that aim to objectively measure bruxism activity, either in terms of muscular activity or bite forces. They have been criticized for introducing a possible change in the bruxing habit, whether increasing or decreasing it, and are therefore poorly representative to the native bruxing activity. These are mostly of relevance to research, and are rarely used in the routine clinical diagnosis