Children And Grinding Teeth

Have you ever crept into your child's room at night expecting the sweet sounds of slumber, but instead been greeted by the sound of grinding teeth? Grinding teeth, or Bruxism as it is called, most frequently occurs during sleep at night. Grinding teeth is worse then just the clenching. Millions of people from all over the world have been searching for ways to stop teeth grinding.

Teeth grinding in toddlers usually goes away on its own as the child gets used to having teeth. While teeth grinding in adults is usually a sign of stress, in kids it is probably more of a habit than anything else. Teeth grinding creates wear on the enamel causing cracking and/or chipping the teeth. Grinding your teeth while asleep is more of a problem since most people will grind their teeth much harder than they ever would while awake. It involves repeated clenching or grinding of the teeth, usually unconsciously, and most often at night while the subject is asleep (sometimes called nocturnal bruxism). Grinding teeth is sometimes used as a warning.

Many children stop grinding their teeth when they lose their baby teeth because permanent teeth are more sensitive to pain. But, to completly stop grinding your teeth you need to do some exercises and change parts of your diet. For example, you can purchase the countless different mouth guards available in the market today, but they do NOT help stop tooth grinding permanently. Someone who grinds their teeth every night may experience jaw disorders, damaged teeth, and headaches all because of their bruxism. Dentists will never tell you how to cure Bruxism or stop teeth grinding because dentists and the mouth guard businesses would go out of business. However, if bruxism is being caused by a dental problem, it should stop when the teeth are repaired and realigned.

Teeth can become sensitive, painful and loose, after they have been worn down or cracked by the grinding. The amount of bite pressure placed on grinding teeth causes the teeth and existing fillings to crack. Lots of kids who grind their teeth aren't even aware of it, so it's often siblings or parents who identify the problem.

In most cases, bruxism is a minor condition that poses no real health threat to a child. In addition to grinding teeth, people with bruxism also may bite their fingernails, pencils and chew the inside of their cheek. While the exact cause is not known, bruxism is clearly associated with stress and certain personality types. Like daytime teeth clenching, bruxism is often considered to be stress-related.