2 Y/o Grinding His Teeth!

Hi M.,

This is not the kind of "habbit" you imatate and pick up that way, but it does run in families. If he has not been to a dentist, make him an appointment. If he is not doing it at night, they may not worry about it at all. I grind and I see a dentist who specializes in this, and now he is treating one of my daughters for the same problem. She will get braces to try and restructure her jaw line so that she does not feel the need to grind her teeth. It may be a long time before they can do anything. Our dentist susgested that we give her a multi vitamin, and that she reduce her sugar intake, both contriute to grinding in kids.

hope that helps
M.

Having been a grinder all my life, there are a couple things I know. Grinding can be caused by stress and can also be caused by a misalignment in the jaws. You should absolutely talk to your dentist about the daytime grinding and gently stop your son when he does it around you. By grinding even a little, he can end up causing a lifetime of jaw and teeth issues if you don't help him learn to stop now. Making it a game will make the change easier.

Hi M.,

Since he's not doing it in his sleep then it sounds more like a habit almost like sucking his thumb. My suggestion would be to completely ignore him when he does it by just looking away or putting his and your focus on something else. Don't give it any energy at all. He'll probably grow out of it like my son did. As they get older the more active they are they forget about there little ticks cause they're too busy with other things. If he starts to do it at night there's not much you can do until he gets older and then have your dentist create a night guard. You probably already no all of this but i thought I would respnd just to let you know someones listening to your concern. Good luck and take care!
T.

My son is 5 and grinds his teeth and it drives ME nuts! :). My husband only grinds his at night occasionally. I was worried that our son picked up or inherited the habit from my husband, but our pediatric dentist assured us that this is normal behavior until the adult teeth come in. I wouldn't worry until then when he is old enough to have a dental dam of his own! If you are still worried, he is old enough to see a dentist.