Teeth Grinding - Darien, IL

I have had friend's who's children have done this. It may be necessary for a plate he can bite on just to protect his teeth. I would ask his doctor or dentist.
Best wishes!

Frances,
I am a dentist in the Park Ridge area and have seen this in a few kids. There's not much you can do-you can't make a 4 year a nightguard. However, I have spoken to a few dentists and some believe that it may be due to large tonsils and adenoids. When the kids are sleeping they end up shifting the jaw around to open the airway better since the size of the tonsils may obstruct the airway a little. I would suggest calling your doctor for a referral to an ear, nose and throat specialist. If you have any questions, please call me at my office or write back. Good luck!
K. Christensen DDS
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My 6 year old grinds her teeth. My two older teenagers never did so I recently asked our dentist. He said it was completely normal. I can't remember exactly what else he said about it but I would suggest you do a 'Google' search under 'toddler teeth grinding' and there's all sorts of info you'll find about it, or talk to your own dentist.

Hi-
My 4-yr old daughter has been grinding her teeth since she has had them. She grinds them so much that she gets "tmj" headaches and her teeth are literally being ground down - getting shorter and shorter. I ask her pediatric dentist about it every time I see him, and he says that even though she grinds ALOT, he won't put any kind of appliance in a child that young since they may choke on it. Basically he said I just have to wait for her adult teeth. I just hope she's not down to the gums by then!! By the way, why was your daughter checked for parasites?

My son just turned six. When I took him to the dentist in August, I mentioned that he did some teeth grinding at night. He said that it is normal at this age while they are working on getting some molars. His daughters did it, and they still had a baby monitor in the room, and they said "Oh, we've got to turn that thing down!" (It was so loud). He eased my concerns. He's a dentist and he said it's normal.

I had similar concerns with my 3-year old that I mentioned to my son's pediatric dentist at his first check-up. He assured me it's perfectly normal at this age to grind the teeth and that if he (the dentist) noticed any loss of enamel or damage to the teeth, only then would he take steps to correct it. Otherwise, he'll likely grow out of it like your daughter did.

My son is a teeth grinder and has been since very little he only does it now when he is really in a deep sleep our inexpensive treatment was a sports mouth guard bought at walmart they now make small ones because so many little kids are doing sports.
It use to drive me crazy, kind of like nails on a chalk board it would even wake me up at night. I use to just go in and nudge him and he would roll over and stop for a while The dentist didn't seem overly concerned when I questioned it one thing when my son would do it all night he would wake up crabby and with a headache. I would check out kidshealth.org the site has a lot of helpful ideas and info. And maybe some ear plugs heehee

My four year old son does this well...as do I, as does my mother and grandmother. It was explained to me that it is most likely a hereditary condition, and there is nothing we can do about it until he has all his permanent teeth. I know that I had major isssues with it through my teens years, now I only do it when Iam extremely stressed out. I am now in my early thirties. My son also grinds his teeth so loudly it wakes me up as well, his dentist suggested propping him with two pillows and trying to get him to sleep on his side. Hoipe this helps...good luck.

Hi Frances,
You son may have TMJ, I have it and so does my daughter. You should call your dentist. They may give him or suggest a nightgaurd.
Good luck.
P.

i am a dental hygienist specializing in pediatrics
until they get all 4 of their 6yr molars in his mouth is constantly looking for its bit but since his mouth is growing and making room for adult teeth his bite changes everyday do everyday the teeth look again for that comfort spot
if you bite together you will see your molars sort of lock inplace together and his won't

I think this is due to stress. I also think they won't make an appliance (bite plate) until permanent teeth are in.

I was a teeth grinder as a child. I'm not sure how old I was when I started, but I remember very cleary my dad making me sleep with a football mouth guard. I know I stopped pretty fast after that. I don't think I would make my kids sleep with a football mouth guard (they are very uncomfortable),but I'm sure they have some sort of product now that is made just for teeth grinding.

Frances....
Have you taken him to a pediatric ddentist? I have found that they are way more in tune to the child than a general dentist or pediatrician. Ours is so thorough - he told me most kids grind ( I just happened to rrandomly ask about that the other day)and sometimes it is not painful for them. I