Small children sometimes grind their teeth at night and one may wonder how much of a problem this is? The main reason a child may do this is because there are a lot of changes going on in their mouth including teeth breaking through the skin. This can be very annoying and as a result a child my start grinding their teeth.
At what age then does teeth grinding become a problem? The answer to that question depends on what age the child is. The older the child, the more of a problem it might be. It is not common for older children to grind their teeth and if yours does then it could be a good thing to go see a dentist. You want to try to stop the habit before any real damage occurs.
If you suspect your child has been grinding their teeth for too long a period, a trip to your pediatrician may be in order. You must know though that there is no specific cure for bruxism (grinding teeth) so you doctor may not be able to pinpoint the reason or give you a cure. Every child is different and if yours still grinds their teeth past the point where they should have stopped, you may have to try many different things including getting a mouth guard.
With adults it is often the dentist who identifies a patients teeth grinding by the wear to the tops of the teeth and the loss of enamel. Teeth are strong and something like this does not show up right away and so by the time your dentist identifies the problem you might have been doing it for years.
With children though, there might not be any wear at all because there might not have been enough time for any evidence of the grinding to show up. It is usually the parents who know there is a problem after they hear their child grinding when they fall asleep at night. If you suspect your child suffers from bruxism it is suggested that you talk to your doctor right away so that something can be figured out before the problem really becomes a problem.
This entry was posted
on Thursday, October 15th, 2009 at 2:10 pm and is filed under Health.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Small children sometimes grind their teeth at night and one may wonder how much of a problem this is? The main reason a child may do this is because there are a lot of changes going on in their mouth including teeth breaking through the skin. This can be very annoying and as a result a child my start grinding their teeth.
At what age then does teeth grinding become a problem? The answer to that question depends on what age the child is. The older the child, the more of a problem it might be. It is not common for older children to grind their teeth and if yours does then it could be a good thing to go see a dentist. You want to try to stop the habit before any real damage occurs.
If you suspect your child has been grinding their teeth for too long a period, a trip to your pediatrician may be in order. You must know though that there is no specific cure for bruxism (grinding teeth) so you doctor may not be able to pinpoint the reason or give you a cure. Every child is different and if yours still grinds their teeth past the point where they should have stopped, you may have to try many different things including getting a mouth guard.
With adults it is often the dentist who identifies a patients teeth grinding by the wear to the tops of the teeth and the loss of enamel. Teeth are strong and something like this does not show up right away and so by the time your dentist identifies the problem you might have been doing it for years.
With children though, there might not be any wear at all because there might not have been enough time for any evidence of the grinding to show up. It is usually the parents who know there is a problem after they hear their child grinding when they fall asleep at night. If you suspect your child suffers from bruxism it is suggested that you talk to your doctor right away so that something can be figured out before the problem really becomes a problem.
Small children sometimes grind their teeth at night and one may wonder how much of a problem this is? The main reason a child may do this is because there are a lot of changes going on in their mouth including teeth breaking through the skin. This can be very annoying and as a result a child my start grinding their teeth.
At what age then does teeth grinding become a problem? The answer to that question depends on what age the child is. The older the child, the more of a problem it might be. It is not common for older children to grind their teeth and if yours does then it could be a good thing to go see a dentist. You want to try to stop the habit before any real damage occurs.
If you suspect your child has been grinding their teeth for too long a period, a trip to your pediatrician may be in order. You must know though that there is no specific cure for bruxism (grinding teeth) so you doctor may not be able to pinpoint the reason or give you a cure. Every child is different and if yours still grinds their teeth past the point where they should have stopped, you may have to try many different things including getting a mouth guard.
With adults it is often the dentist who identifies a patients teeth grinding by the wear to the tops of the teeth and the loss of enamel. Teeth are strong and something like this does not show up right away and so by the time your dentist identifies the problem you might have been doing it for years.
With children though, there might not be any wear at all because there might not have been enough time for any evidence of the grinding to show up. It is usually the parents who know there is a problem after they hear their child grinding when they fall asleep at night. If you suspect your child suffers from bruxism it is suggested that you talk to your doctor right away so that something can be figured out before the problem really becomes a problem.