My daughter is 5 and is a teeth grinder. She has been doing this for 2 1/2 years now. I've spoken with the dentist about this. He says she'll out grow it. Please keep in mind her father is a teeth grinder and so is her grandmother, grandma wears protective gear every night. I was told it could be stress, her father and I are divorced. So when she started to grind her teeth, I used that as an excuse. It's now been over 3 years and she is still doing it. Per the dentist, the grinding has not affected her teeth...yet. HELP. Am I SOL?
You could ask your pediatrian about a sleep study. They could help. It maps brainwaves, air intake, etc. It could just be that she's having bad dreams.
Hi L.
Just a thought,has your daughter ever had worms which are common in children.
Teeth grinding is one of the symptoms of having worms.
B.
My dd is 7 and grinds her teeth. I have no idea how long she has been doing it. We were on vacation in June and slept in a bed together. She kept me up all night it was so loud! She has no idea she was doing it. My other dd is 9 and they share a room. Now that we are aware, my 9 yo will sometimes wake up to the grinding sound and let me know. If I go in and check on her when she is asleep and she is doing it, I gently move her head or slightly open her mouth and she stops. I had her at the dentist in Aug and they said she has not done damage, yet. The dentist did say it is normal as they are losing/growing new teeth and it is very different than adult teeth grinding, which is usually caused by stress. We are keeping an eye on her teeth, to watch for damage. If she is starting to wear down her teeth, then, and only then, she will need a mouth guard. My recommendation is to keep bringing her to the dentist every 6 mos and have them access if she is doing any damage. If so, do what they say, but chances are that would be a mouth guard. Good luck.
S.
My son grinds his teeth as well and I was told it was normal for them to do that. I grind my teeth and was told due to stress. So your dentist might be right and it might a mixture of genetics and stress!
my daughter sounded like a jack hammer at night.. we had her sleep next to our bed for a period of about 1 month.. she slept in a sleeping bag.. and we would wake her kind of when we would hear the noise.. and tell her to stop.. she became aware of it.. and has since stoppped.. she started around 2 and stopped when we did this around 6. she started wearing down her back teeth.. Hope this helps.
