“People are coming with more tension type headaches, migraines, decreased opening,” said Michelle Augello, DDS, owner of North Buffalo, N.Y.-based Nickel City Dentistry. About 30-40 percent of her patients have reported similar issues, and she thinks stress about COVID-19 is to blame.
“It is a stressful climate in our world right now,” Dr. Augello said. “They were clenching and grinding their teeth and they were breaking a lot of teeth.”
Facial pain specialists are seeing the same thing, according to Jeffrey Goldberg, DDS, an orofacial pain specialist. He added that a lot of patients are coming in with posture-related issues from working at home, straining the neck, shoulders and, subsequently, the jaw.
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