WASHINGTON (TND) — Over the last two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a series of mini- or sub-epidemics in the wake of the virus’ effects on individuals’ – and the country’s – physical and mental health. There’s the specter of “long-COVID” affecting millions of Americans, surging rates of depression and anxiety across all age groups as well as the potential of culture-wide shifts in personality.
Dentists and other doctors have also been noting severe increases in jaw-related injuries from pandemic stress. Back inMarch 2021, in the first year of the pandemic, the American Dental Association reported 71% of dentists surveyed saw increases in the prevalence of teeth grinding and jaw clenching and 62% said they saw temporomandibular joint disorder symptoms, a conditionin which that joint between jaw and skull — located near the ears — causes pain and tenderness as well as headaches. That’s on top of 63% of …