Toddler Teeth Grinding?

Normal at this age. My 4yo does this a lot (and so loud I can hear it in the next room!). The dentist says no problemo until their adult teeth come in.

I ground my teeth until I was 5 years old, when I outgrew it.

My husband still grinds his teeth once in a while. It's soo annoying!!!

Check with her dentist/doctor anyway... usually it's a normal stage, but it's better to be safe than sorry. :)

I have an 8 year old who grinds her teeth. I asked the dentist about it a couple weeks ago and he said the same as Kristen's dentist.

My 5 year old does it and it causes him pain and soreness in his teeth. He doesn't like to eat hard carrots or chips if he goes a day without his mouth guard. Not to mention the sound is so awful, like 20 times worse than nails on the chalk board. We could hear it in the other room and forget about trying to sleep in the same hotel room when traveling. He seems to do it more when stressed like when we're on vacation and he is in a new environment, when he started school, when he has a change at home, etc.

When I asked the dentist about it he basically said that it is normal and he would grow out of it. He also said that by the time they made a mouth guard for him he would likely have already grown out of the gaurd because of all the time it takes to make the molding and that their mouths are growing so quickly.

I couldn't bear to have him in pain so I shopped around, we tried sports gaurds, which the dentist said to try. They were never comfortable and he always spit them out. We finally found a product at Walmart called the Doctor's Advanced Comfort Guard. It works wonderfully! The challenge is getting it the right size, we literally cut off about half the ends and then filed it with a nail file to make it smooth. Then you have to make it fit which is challenging with kids.

Good Luck, hope that helps. :o)

http://www.walmart.com/ip/The-Doctor-s-Advanced-Comfort-N...

My 3-year-old does this too. Our ped dentist said it's normal.

Totally normal. All kids seem to do it and the dentist has mentioned with each of my four that there is no need to worry. Just part of growing. Plus little teeth fall out after this stage...its always nice to know that they get a whole second round of teeth.

It happens when the teeth don't fit together right. And then it becomes a habit. It's also about stress in her everyday life. Usually they fit the child with a lower mouth cover for the teeth which protects the teeth and somewhat discourages the habit. It's nothing conscious that she can avoid so no bribery or punishment will work.
The trick is to find what is stressful in her life and let her talk before bedtime.
When she is older and has her adult teeth she may need braces. Do not scrimp on this. I paid for three sets of braces and my kids have extremely few fillings. My oldest daughter has only one and she is deep into adult life.

My 3 1/2 yr old does this. I still do this. I have never had any problems because I grind my teeth. My dentist told me to eat an apple before I go to bed cause this will cause your jaw to get tired and you won't grind your teeth. I have had some dentists recommend that I get a cup to cover my teeth at night but that may not be the case with a toddler. My husband has a dentist appointment next week and I am going to have him ask about her grinding her teeth.