I'm sure that is the only time in the history of humankind that those two words have ever been spoken together.
I'm Angela Duckworth.
I'm Stephen Dubner, and you're listening to.
No stupid questions today on the show.
Why do people grind their teeth?
I'm not saying your dentist is a crook, but your dentist might be a crook.
Angela, we have discussed in the past on this show the fact that you are not the world's best sleeper.
That's true.
And continues to be true.
You've also mentioned to me that you grind your teeth.
I've learned this is called bruxism.
And technically, there is both awake bruxism and sleep bruxism.
Correct.
Are you an awake bruxist or an asleep bruxist?
Or both, perhaps?
I don't know how someone knows that they're a bruxer in their sleep.
I mean, there are definitely times where I notice that my teeth are clenched, and I then think, oh, gosh, is that what I'm doing?
Teeth clenching, by the way, and teeth grinding are not the same thing.
They're both called bruxism, I guess, technically, but I think I have the grinding part.
So whether you grind or clench or whatnot, we are all bruxists.