Teeth Grinding
It’s not uncommon for children to grind their teeth. Tooth grinding, or bruxism, affects somewhere between fifteen and thirty-three percent of the population at some point in their childhood. It will commonly occur during the eruption of new teeth, since this is a painful experience.
Though this will often pass quickly, some children go on grinding for months or years at a time. Here are some tips for identifying and dealing with your own child’s bruxism problem:
- It is common for children to grind their teeth without even realizing it, possibly while sleeping. Listen for grinding during the night, and be on the lookout if he or she ever complains of an unexplained headache or sore jaw.
- Stress is the culprit in many cases of bruxism. Try to identify any stressors in your child’s life, and look for ways to alleviate them.
- Your child can reduce grinding by massaging his or her jaw muscles or applying a warm compress to them before going to bed.
- Make sure that your child is getting enough to drink, as dehydration can cause or aggravate bruxism symptoms.
- Alert our Issaquah dentist to your child’s bruxism. It is possible that there is a dental problem that needs to be addressed.
