Baby Teeth Grinding: Understanding the Causes and Solutions (2024)

FAQs

Baby Teeth Grinding: Understanding the Causes and Solutions? ›

Babies often grind their teeth when new teeth are coming in to relieve the pain. You can provide your child with some remedies to help alleviate their pain, such as soft rubber teethers that conform to their mouth, cold rubber teething toys, and silicone teething necklaces.

Offer Them a Cold Teething Toy or Wet Washcloth

One way to help with this is to offer them a cold teething ring or wet washcloth to chew on. Doing this can help numb the area and provide some relief.

It may be a cause for concern when the tooth grinding causes severe tooth wear, pain or trouble sleeping. A mouthguard, a thin protective mouthpiece moulded to the child's teeth that acts as a barrier between the opposing sets, may be prescribed.

Babies grind their teeth because of a number of different factors, such as: A relatively unstable or “slippery” bite due to few teeth – as teeth first start to erupt, sometimes there are not enough teeth to make contact with each other. Discomfort – misaligned teeth can cause babies to be uncomfortable.

What causes bruxism? Oral health specialists often point to too much stress and certain personality types as causes of bruxism. Bruxism often affects people with nervous tension, such as anger, pain, or frustration. It also affects people with aggressive, hurried, or overly competitive tendencies.

How Can Parents Help? Whatever the cause of bruxism, help kids relax before bedtime — they might take a warm bath or shower, listen to a few minutes of soothing music, or read a book. For bruxism from stress, ask about what's upsetting your child and find a way to help.

A wide spectrum of medical and behavioral symptoms is exhibited by children with autism, which makes routine dental care very difficult in them. Bruxism or forceful grinding of teeth is one of the sleep problems commonly observed in children with autism.

By around age 6, most little ones will stop grinding their teeth on their own. Awake bruxism, even in children who are school-aged or older, might not warrant any treatment or cause any issues, though it can be a sign that your child is stressed or anxious.

Parasites may also cause sleep bruxism. Multiple studies link parasites (sometimes called “digestive parasites” or “worms”) to nighttime grinding.

Teeth grinding, or bruxism, is something that can happen across the lifespan for different reasons. According to theUniversity of Michigan Health System, children may begin to grind their teeth at 6 months or later when their teeth start to come in and again at age 5 when their permanent teeth may start arriving.

Is teeth grinding genetic? ›

Sleep bruxism tends to occur in families. If you have bruxism, other members of your family also may have bruxism or a history of it.

“When young children are teething, there's pain and fussiness and sometimes a low-grade fever,” she explains. “But a fever of 101°F or higher is a pretty good sign that you're dealing with an ear infection, especially if they're pulling at their ears, too.”

As kids get older, stress can also cause them to grind their teeth. “Kids get angry, frustrated, sad, or embarrassed. We all take stress out on different body parts,” remarks Dr. Hoss.

After analyzing the data, the authors found an association between deficient levels of vitamin D and the severity of bruxism. More individuals reporting moderate and severe bruxism were deficient in vitamin D concentrations than those experiencing no symptoms or other levels of tooth clenching or grinding, they wrote.

It's often linked to: stress and anxiety – this is the most common cause of teeth grinding. sleep problems like snoring and sleep apnoea. taking certain medicines, including a type of antidepressant known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)

It usually happens subconsciously, either during waking hours or when you're asleep. Causes include stress, anxiety, sleep disorders and certain medications. Most people who grind their teeth can ease symptoms with a custom mouth guard.

A physical or occupational therapist can assist if your child's teeth grinding relates to global hyposensitivity. These therapists will help your child develop and manage muscle groups throughout their body, reducing their reliance on oral stimulation.

It's usually no cause for alarm, and most children outgrow it by the time they reach age 6. Most of the times, teeth grinding occurs because of teething or improper tooth alignment.

Sova Junior Night Guard is made for kids 6-11 years old.

Its ground-breaking Diffusix™ technology creates an impervious barrier against the complications of grinding and clenching so your teeth remain steadfastly shielded, preserving their integrity night after night.