Teeth Clenching & Grinding – is It a Major Problem and Can I Do Anything to Stop It?

I was put on Sertraline a few months ago for depression/anxiety. One of the side effects has been that it's been making me clench and grind my teeth. When I'm lying in bed at night I can feel my teeth clenched and I think when I'm asleep they're still like that cos I usually wake up that way. Once or twice I've woke up in the middle of the night with my teeth grinding really bad. I do it a lot during the day as well, especially when I feel stressed. It's pretty much involuntary. I usually don't realise I'm doing it at first but once I do I find it difficult to stop.

I've told both my doctor and my dentist about this problem and they both say, don't worry about it and there appears to be no damage done. I usually trust medical professionals pretty much 100% on what they say but I'm a bit concerned about this as I find it hard to believe I could continually grind my teeth and it wouldn't have any major consequences. What are people's thoughts?

Suggestion:

i think that you should buy a mouth guard (like the ones athletes use) and use it at night. if your not doing any damage to your teeth now, than it's possible to do it later. it's better to be proactive about it