With the high levels of road rage we are exposed to on a daily basis, its not surprising Cape Town also has a teeth grinding problem. But stress is not the issue.

Now why am I linking road rage and teeth grinding (also known as ‘bruxism’), you might ask? Well stress is obviously a major cause of road rage, and surprise surprise –  stress also happens to contribute to night time teeth grinding.

But it’s not the ONLY thing that causes teeth grinding. The other main causes of bruxism might surprise you – and they happen to fit PERFECTLY into the Cape Town lifestyle.

According to an article published earlier this year in the UK Express:

Lifestyle factors could also increase the risk of developing bruxism.

These can include drinking excessive amount of alcohol, smoking and using recreational drugs.

However, the NHS warns people who drink more than six caffeinated drinks a day, such as tea or coffee – could be more at risk of developing the condition.

Excessive booze, smoking, recreational drugs and coffee is basically all people do in Cape Town when they’re not sleeping (and grinding their teeth).

Actually, wait. To be fair, Capetonians do other stuff when they’re not abusing their bodies or sleeping. They also love doing triathlons, cycling and klapping the gym in general.

And according to this article, teeth clenching and grinding when working out (in particular on the weights) is a big contributor:

Long cardio workouts may take a toll on your pearly whites, a new German study found. The researchers compared the oral health of endurance athletes with non-exercisers and found that the athletes were more likely to have tooth erosion, which is a gradual wearing away of enamel.

It’s a natural tendency to clench your jaw when you strain to lift weights, Wolff says. It may even improve performance by increasing blood flow to parts of your brain associated with motor control, recent research finds. But all that pressure can wear down your teeth or even crack them, causing persistent pain in your jaw.

That’s probably why a lot of people in Cape Town have headaches, jaw pain, migraines and poor-quality sleep patterns.

And teeth like this:

Why don’t they get them fixed??

Nobody has their teeth restored to their former glory, because veneers are so goddamn expensive. While Porcelain veneers are your best option for some of these cases, they are not the only option. Due to the costs and treatment attached to the procedure, many people are opting for aesthetic resin bonding.

That’s what the likes of Dr. George Botha is performing at ENAMEL dentists in Cape Town CBD (de Waterkant) – charging less than a third of the price of veneers. Following a consultation to see if you qualify, it just takes a couple of hours and you don’t even need an anaesthetic. You also don’t have to have your teeth cut, as with veneers.

Here’s the after shot of that person’s teeth featured above.

Why does nobody know about this?

It’s like the tech world, I guess. Methods and dental technologies are improving at a rapid pace and we have no reason to keep up to date with it, because we’re not dentists. The problem with that though, is nobody lets us know that new dental tech is making things much more affordable these days.

That’s why I’m letting you know.

You’re welcome.

CLICK HERE to see the before and after overlaid with a slider – it really is quite amazing…

[Sources: Express, Colgate, Prevention, Study]