When we avoid our anger, we suppress the things we want to say but cannot. When our emotions go silent, our bodies begin to speak. The emotions reflected in our bodies echo quietly within us: through clenched teeth.
In everyday language, teeth grinding is often associated with stress. However, when we look deeper, this behavior appears as the body’s silent yet powerful response to psychological pain. In psychology, this is defined as somatization-the manifestation of emotions through the body (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Suppressed anger, fear, or helplessness… can manifest through our jaw muscles. Especially anger… a strong emotion that is often socially frowned upon or met with disapproval, may express itself through clenched jaws and grinding teeth.
Bruxism, the behavior of clenching or grinding teeth, often occurs without our awareness. Sometimes it manifests while awake, during moments of stress; other times it surfaces during sleep, when the unconscious mind takes over (Lobbezoo et al., 2018). If you wake up in the morning with jaw pain from tightness, sensitivity in your teeth, or even headaches or neck pain, could it be that your body is trying to tell you something?
Bruxism doesn’t only affect the teeth; it impacts the individual as a whole. We can say it leads to secondary effects such as poor sleep quality, fatigue, weakness, difficulty concentrating, and especially irritability in social relationships. These unnoticed contractions during sleep can repeat throughout the night, exhausting the muscular system and impairing the individual’s daily functioning (Manfredini et al., 2013). Looking at this picture, we can also see that it threatens not just physical well-being, but the individual’s self-perception and emotional balance.
The jaw muscles are among the strongest muscle structures in the body (Wieckiewicz et al., 2014). They are also one of the first areas where stress accumulates. Just as we keep ourselves under control throughout the day, when that control loosens at night, internal tension begins to express itself. You clench your teeth, grind them… Over time, this can affect not only oral and dental health but also overall quality of life. Structural damage such as enamel erosion, temporomandibular joint deformation, and difficulty chewing are long-term consequences of the process (Beddis & Manfredini, 2020).
The causes of teeth clenching and grinding are not rooted in a single factor. This condition arises from a combination and clustering of biological, psychological, and environmental factors. Studies on the dopamine system suggest that impaired neural regulation may lead to uncontrolled contraction of the jaw muscles (Wieckiewicz et al., 2014). However, psychosocial factors are just as influential as biological ones. Traumatic experiences, suppressed emotions, anxiety levels, and individual coping mechanisms can determine the duration and intensity of bruxism (Karadeniz, 2016).
If a holistic evaluation aiming to understand not just the physical symptoms but also the inner world of the individual is not conducted, treatment may remain superficial. The use of night guards, muscle relaxants, or dental treatments may offer temporary solutions; however, unless the underlying stress, anger, or anxiety is addressed, the issue may resurface (Özdemir & Güler, 2017).
Most of the time, while trying to carry on with a stressful and exhausting life, we say “I’m fine” and move on. But the words, feelings, anger, and stress we hold inside… eventually begin to speak to us as a silent scream: through clenched teeth.
Do not forget to listen to your anger, because the emotions we suppress will one day echo in our bodies. Let us release our silent anger so that it is our words-not our teeth-that speak.