I have a question about teeth clenching that's been bothering me and was wondering if anyone could help me with it.

Around and since my college graduation about 5 months ago I've noticed certain nights I wake up and it feels like I've been clenching my teeth. I think this is due to stress/anxiety, but I'm also concerned about whether or not I've always been doing this and am only just noticing it now.

If I did have a clenching/bruxism problem, would/should my dentist have been able to tell/check for it during all my past dentist visits with him? I've had tooth bonding on a front tooth, but I'm pretty sure that was from a bad habit of biting on pens during high school (and he told me to not do put any foreign objects in my mouth when I pointed out the mysterious chip in my tooth). I have never had any cavities, noteworthy tooth sensitivities, or enamel problems as far as I know. Never have had jaw or joint pain, or headaches either. I can't tell if I've ever had attrition like tooth chipping/flattening anywhere.

I hope this is just a recent problem stress induced clenching problem and I can mitigate it with stress relief.

Hopefully someone any ideas. Appreciate it, thanks.