Teeth Grinding - Valparaiso,IN

I have no suggestions, I am looking for help myself. My granddaughter grinds her teeth just like my mother did.

This could be a sign of sleep apnea. My daughter started grinding her teeth really bad at night when she was almost 4. She also started snoring and experienced sleep apnea. We ended up having her tonsils removed because they were so large. But any way the doctor said that one of the signs of sleep apnea, for whatever the cause, could be teeth grinding or snoring especially sudden onset where they never did before.

talk with both the pediatrician and your dentist. I ground my teeth as a young child and had to wear a mouth guard to keep me from grinding away the enamel.

I agree with another poster, take your son to the peds dr and see what he says, he might refer u to your dentist and he might have u have a mouth piece made. If that is the fact ask him to safe money tell him you would like to try a sport mouth piece first because they are cheaper unless of course your insurance covers it! You can buy them at a sports store and buy the smallest size and follow the instructions. Good Luck to you and your son!

Our doctor told us it could be because my step son was having to much caffeine/sugar through out the day or he was stressed (not sure what a 6 year old could be stressed about :).. once we cut down on juice @ dinner and had him take a bath before bed and had some relax time before bed he stopped. :)

I know that you are talking about your four yr. old but yes this teeth grinding can be a sign or sleep apnea. Pls. have it checked out if you can. You son is quite young to be tested I think.
My husband started this later in life, and I mean grind just as you have mentioned, he went to sleep clinic and yes he has sleep apnea. He is now on a machine that helps him, giving him air. Check out sleep apnea on the internet and it will give you signs and symptoms.
Again it could be a sign that your sons' adnoids' are large and may have to be removed. Check this with your family Dr. or pediatrician. If they remove the adnoids' they will also remove his tonsils. Take care and good luck.

A bite plate from the dentist should take care of that.

My younger brother had the same problem and my mother took him to a dentist who make a plastic mouthpiece which he ended up wearing out in two weeks. She had him use his football mouthpiece after that and not only did it help stop his teethgrinding but it didn't cost as much to replace and lasted much longer than the one the dentist made. The athletic mouthpieces can be cut to size and formed to his mouth by boiling it and having him bite into it once it has cooled to a safe level.

My daughter grinds horribly, too. I asked her pediatric dentist about it and he told me that the majority of children this age grind their teeth. Dentally there is nothing to worry about yet- as far as tooth damage- because at this age their teeth are spaced very far apart. It begins to impact development and becomes an issue if they continue to do it when their adult teeth come in. He also said that most kids outgrow it in time. I asked about a "guard" and he said they are unnecssary now. Hope this helps! If not, call your dentist and see what he/she says.

Hi A.,
I used to grind my teeth and used a specially formed mouthpiece with some success. I discovered, though, that there were some natural, safe nutritional things I could do to help that part of my body relax while sleeping. There are options like that even for a four year old. Feel free to send me a private message if you'd like to know the specifics (probably best to include your regular e-mail address so I can contact you that way -- the reply boxes, wonderful though they are, don't work very well for the stuff I have to send :).
Blessings,
A.