Bruxism represents involuntary movements of the jaw muscles, resulting in tooth grinding and clenching. Generally it occurs during sleep, but occasionally can be present during the day, so called awake bruxism. Bruxism is a common condition, affecting approximately 8% of all people. It is not known what causes bruxism but it may result in tooth damage, jaw pain, headaches, poor quality sleep and may bother your partner's sleep at night due to the tooth grinding noise. There is no generally accepted treatment for bruxism. Mouth guards and several medications have been tried, but they generally did not work or caused side effects.