As a parent, you should be aware of any risk factors that could cause your child to experience tooth grinding. Tooth grinding, also known as bruxism, is a condition of excessive teeth grinding at night. This can cause discoloration or problems with the jaw bone. It would help if you were wary of this problem because it could lead to other oral health problems and bad habits in the future.
Causes of Bruxism
- Misaligned teeth: The teeth can become misaligned easily if they are not growing at the proper rate.
- Medical conditions: Medical conditions can cause pain and inflammation, which in turn can cause your child to grind their teeth at night.
- Anxiety and stress: Stress and anxiety can cause the jaw muscles to tense, leading to excessive teeth grinding at night.
- Teething: Teething can cause teeth to grind because of the constant pain they feel while developing teeth.
- Habits: Your child may be grinding their teeth as a habit, which can increase the risk of other oral problems or decay.
Grinding teeth is a habit that your child will grow out of most of the time.
So what should you do if your child grinds their teeth?
The first thing to do is monitor your child and see if they exhibit nighttime grinding habits. If so, you should seek out a dentist as soon as possible. The team at our dental office will help with any further treatment.
