Niece Grinding Her Teeth

My daughter is 9 and she is stilling doing it in her sleep. My dentist checks it everytime we go. Apparently on the baby teeth they don't typically worry about it. It does become noticible to the dentist and the hygentists over time. My daughter does it only in her sleep, so if I hear it I massage her jaws to get her to loosen up. At this point my dentist is still not worried about it but I always mention it and have it checked.

My daughter who is now 21 months did this around the same age. It drove me crazy and worried me, but the doctor said not to worry. I finally noticed that she would do it in spurts when she was teething. Whenever I caught her doing it I kind of ignored it and asked her to sing to me or something else. I basically just distracted her. Try not to worry, she will grow out of it. My daughter only did it for a few months.

Hi K.,
My daughter is 18 mos and does grind her teeth. What I find works with her is I start clicking my tongue or clapping my hands and she will do the same. Maybe this will work with your niece. E.

My daughter, who is now 4 1/2 years old, did this as well around that same age. She would do it in her sleep too though. It really worried me, but she eventually grew out of it. I always tried to make her stop doing it by putting something else in her mouth as you suggested. If she doesn't grow out of it after a while, I would definitely consult a dentist.

My son did the same thing around that age. My son just eventually stopped grinding his teeth. I want to say he did it for around 3 or 4 months....then it eventually just stopped. It will pass.

Good Luck!
K.

This one really hits home for me...My daughter, now 13 months, also grinds her teeth. It used to be a constant thing, but now just happens occasionally. I spoke with her pediatrician about it. She explained that a lot of kids do it and that she will "out-grow" it. My daughter does it less now after learning a few tricks...I began to ignore the behavior and give her some type of diversional activity to do as soon as I heard that horrible sound. For example, I taught her how to cluck her tongue, so that anytime she would begin to grind her teeth, I would cluck my tongue and she would do the same. She then was focused on clucking rather than grinding. Good Luck!!

Hi K.,

My son did this as well at about the same age and it worried me big time. He still does it from time to time, but for the most part stopped around the time he turned two. If your niece doesn't stop, have your sister take her to a dentist. Take it from someone who's been grinding her teeth for almost 31 years now - this is not a habit you want her to have!!!

L.

She should consult a dentist. Kept up, she'll grind her teeth down. And the dentist might be able to provide a tooth guard.