Teeth grinding in children

The Teeth Grinding Phenomenon

Teeth grinding is a terrible habit potentially causing the permanent damage to your teeth. Moreover, it can affect both children and adults making it even more dangerous. While with adults, teeth grinding is caused by stress and nervousness, with children there are usually different causes for this condition. All in all, teeth grinding usually takes place at night, therefore emphasizing the necessity of people close to you to pay attention and let you know of your unhealthy habit before it is too late.

Reasons Behind Teeth Grinding

As far as children are concerned, they tend to grind their teeth mostly during the period of their teething. Namely, irritated by the discomfort this occasion brings, small children instinctively find comfort in clenching or grinding their still growing teeth. This is considered normal unless it transfers as a habit into later stages of a child's life. Furthermore, once the teeth have fully grown, one's upper and lower teeth may be fitting improperly, thus causing this condition due to everyday jaw movements. Sometimes, children express pain and troubles through teeth grinding during sleep. Then, this condition may serve as a timely indicator of a more serious problem.

There are numerous other similar causes of teeth grinding. Nevertheless, as long as it takes place during teething or while the child is having his or her baby teeth, this is not a problem. However, if this condition remains a habit once second teeth have grown, something needs to be done in order to prevent dental damage due to frequent grinding. The child may even start to complain about headaches or a painful jaw at some point of its teeth grinding activity. Then, it is important to notice the symptoms and take your child to the dentist. He or she will see how much damage had been done to the teeth beforehand, and try to give you the best advice for solving this problem.

If the case was about adult teeth grinding, the dentist would have probably recommended some kind of a correctional surgery. However, with children, there is no need for that. Rather, the child is either made a night guard according to his or her own teeth and jaw position, or advised to buy an universal one. These devices prevent one from clenching and grinding his or her teeth. Therefore, it is very important for the child to wear an adequate night guard in order for it to remain in his or her mouth during the whole night. Finally, a cup of milk before bedtime, soothing conversations or stories, as well as other similar methods, help the child fall a sleep more relaxed, therefore reducing the danger of teeth grinding.