Child Teeth Grinding at Night-

I'm a dental assistant. Try not to worry about your child grinding his teeth. As long as he isn't complaining of headaches or jaw problems, he should be fine. Children's bruxism is different than adults who have bruxism. Children have mixed dentition (baby teeth and adult teeth) or even a child who only has baby teeth. Their bite is not aligned (match up), so in their sleep they are constantly moving them to find a"place". Or if they have an earache they may grind their teeth at night. But as long as he is not complaining of headaches or jaw pain, I wouldn't worry about it. Of course though, ask your dentist when you bring him in! :)

Grinding teeth can end up causing gum recession, so you're right, it's not good. I had to have gum surgery where they take skin from the roof of your mouth and apply it to the recessed gum area. Very painful procedure. I'm not sure what can be done when your child is so young and with baby teeth, but a nighttime mouth guard will probably be in order once his teeth are in place and no longer moving. I just finally had my dentist make me one.

My sister used to do that when she was young. The dentist said it was normal, but A., she never stopped doing it and her teeth started to be ground done. She had to get a night guard made because of it.

Keep this is mind when you talk to the dentist.

Also, remember that grinding teeth is hard on the jaw. Headaches aren't the only thing to worry about.

Dawn

My son is 5 and does the same thing. It's very loud when he sleeps. I asked my dentist and was assured that it was very normal for kids that age to do. My son has no headaches as well. Just ask your dentist to be on the safe side.

Dang it, I KNEW there was something else I was supposed to talk to my daughter's dentist about!!! GRRRR.... Ugghh... Guess I'll be keeping tabs on this post...

My son grinds his teeth in his sleep. The dentist didn't seem concerned at all about it.

My 8 year old does this. I had the dentist check his teeth and jaw to make sure this wasn't causing any problems. So far so good. But what they told me was that allergies can cause this. They are trying to release the pressure the allergies are causing and to try an allergy medicine to see if it relieves the grinding. I would be interested to see if anyone else has heard this.