My daughter is grinding her teeth! |
Pediatric dentist, Dr. Ray Lee discusses teeth grinding, a common occurence in young children.
Dear Dr. Lee:
My four year old daughter has been grinding her teeth almost every night while she sleeps! Lately I noticed that her front teeth are wearing. Does she need to get a mouth guard now, or should I wait until she has her adult teeth? Is there anything else I can do to stop her from grinding her teeth so much?Dr. Lee:
Unfortunately, lots of kids grind their teeth. And often, it's for no apparent reason. It is unreasonable to expect a 4 year old to keep a mouth guard in her mouth all night. There would be more concern about it becoming dislodged and choking her.
Often there is not much you can do except to tolerate the grinding.
However, you should still visit your dentist to ensure that nothing else is
going on. For example, has your daughter done any harm to herself like
exposing a nerve? Or also, grinding may occur if your daughter is in
discomfort. As I usually suggest, if you stub your toe, you would rub
it. Maybe she is just teething, but maybe she has a cavity that is
bugging her. Hopefully not, but the dentist can reassure you that
nothing is wrong and go from there.
