Grinding Teetch

My Neice would grind her teeth when she was little. It got to the point her teeth were nearly gone. The doctor said it was stress related. We had some problem when her adult teeth started coming in (especially right in front). She is now 12 years old and has beautiful teeth. It was her brother that ended up needing the braces. Lol.

Hi there - both my sons did this. With our older son, it was his teeth coming in and we gave him the homeopathic chamomila in 30c which helped tremendously.

With our younger son, it turned out to be a zinc deficiency. I think the technical term for teeth grinding is bruxism, so just google and read about some of the possible causes. For us, balancing his zinc was key. He was also a light eater and balancing his zinc, caused him to eat more because he could taste his food! Before that I never realized that zinc could effect the senses so much. We used Eidon zinc and Meso Zinc to supplement him. It was a simple blood test.

Best regards,
D.

It is probably genetic, related to anxiety and OCD. I grind my teeth in my sleep and it drives my dentist nuts and I am going to get a night guard. It is nothing that the person has conscious control over. If she keeps doing it when her permanent teeth come in, consult your dentist and see if a night guard is appropriate to prevent damage. Also you might watch for other signs of OCD later in life, like hair pulling, nail biting, or other repetitive behaviors. I did not fully understand what I went through as a child that was compulsively prefectionistic, bit my nails and chronic anxiety. As an adult, I received therapy and medication and try to deal with this problem one day at a time. I also see the same features in two of my three kids. I can at least guide them to use the tools necessary to achieve a balance in life. Good luck. You might want to take a good look at your close relatives on both sides of the family and see if there is anything like what I described. She might grow out of it or not. Just watch and if she needs help you will be there.

Thanks for the question - my son does the same thing and it sounds awful! It's good to hear he's not the only one.

when I took my 4 y.o to the dentist and asked he said it was normal and actually helped to prevent ear infections my opening and closing the tubes in the ears.

its totally normal to do. they are getting used to new teeth or could be in pain. my daughter did that when her mouth hurt so i would give her tylenol and gentle naturals teething drops. they helped a lot. good luck!

My son did the same thing. Our pediatrician said it was totally normal and to just ignore it. She suggested if we said too much about it to our son, he'd do it just because we gave it so much attention.

Totally normal. They do it because they are getting teeth in and the counter pressure feels good. Try not to make a huge deal out of it. I noticed that if I reacted at all when my son did it, he would just do it more on purpose when he was awake (to get a reaction). They usually outgrow it when all the teeth come in. There is nothing the dentist can do until the 2-year molars come in and the child is older if it ends up being for any other reason. (Some kids have large tonsils and they do it at night to breathe better.) They cannot wear a nightguard until they are a lot older so it's a sort of grin-and-bear-it thing for now. It is annoying though-I can relate.

My son did the same thing since he started teething with his molars...it is apparently common (according to pediatric dentist) when teething to relieve the tension in the gums. If she's getting her molars it is probably sounding pretty awful. During this time, before bed I just made sure to give him some teething tablets or Motrin, cause this was usually paired with an out of routine nightwaking...

But, don't worry it goes away! My son doesn't do it anymore now that he has all his molars in place.