You may have noticed that your son, during the night, clenches and grinds his teeth. It is a disorder called "bruxism", which affects between 10% and 20% of the population, including children and pregnant women.
We are worried about the parents, because you really hear the grinding of teeth even if the child is in another room, and you see how the jaw clenches a lot, from such pressure it seems that the teeth will break. Luckily, that will not happen, although if the problem lengthens over time, the destruction of enamel and dentin can be observed.
Bruxism is defined as the involuntary habit of tightening or grinding dental structures without functional purposes. This disorder can lead to headache and muscles of the jaw, neck and ear.
There are two types of bruxism: central (tightening) and eccentric (rubbing); and it can be diurnal and nocturnal, more frequent in children, who are unaware of the problem. Daytime bruxism is usually tighter than grinding, nighttime bruxism can be both.
In Babies and more, how does stress affect children's mouths?This can be caused by psychological or physical causes.
The psychological causes are all those disorders or alterations that can trigger emotional tension or stress. Here we have for example the cases of hyperactivity or very active children who are nervous during the day and continually doing things, at night the activity continues to somehow clench and grind their teeth. Anxiety is a frequent cause of bruxism.
Physical causes include headaches, earache, appearance of new teeth or falling of baby teeth that give new shape to the oral structure or a bad position of the teeth that interferes with the way the jaw is closed. Although there is some controversy in this, it is often thought that in children bruxism can often coincide with the presence of intestinal parasites, since the discomfort they cause results in a child's restlessness and tension.
Child Bruxism Treatment
Probably this habit of clenching and grinding your teeth while sleeping Be a passenger Maybe when the illness happens or when stress situations happen for the child, it disappears. What we can do is observe when there is bruxism, which normally coincides with the situations mentioned.
Therefore, when the diagnosis is established during a dental examination and if the lesions are minimal or imperceptible, no local treatment is indicated but rather attention to anxiety disorders is established.
One way to treat this habit non-invasively is with anti-stress therapies, which in children can be the practice of a sport, walks, a relaxing bath, a massage, reading a story, listening to music, sleeping with them ... In relation to this, we must ensure that they do not go sad or angry to bed (or that we are with them).
In short, find a way for the child to leave the nerves before falling asleep, and of course no television or computer before going to bed, which makes them not "disconnected" or quiet.
As the treatment is related to the risk of dental injury and its possible muscular condition, in the most severe cases it may be necessary to place a resin or plastic dental protection, known as a discharge splint or muscle relaxant plate, to prevent permanent injury and tooth involvement.
Lately, the bruxism of the child is usually unlinked with the presence of intestinal parasites, although I have to say that in the case of my three-year-old daughter it has coincided on a couple of occasions that it has been so. If the child complains of itching or pain in the anus, it must be taken to the pediatrician because he probably has worms and must be treated.
In Babies and more My son has worms: oxyuriasis, what should I do?Of course, I don't want to say that earthworms are the only reason for bruxism (this theory seems to be not completely ruled out), since there has to be a predisposition in the person who usually grinds their teeth, and maybe it's the altered sleep situation (Like when you are sick, there is some pain or you are anxious ...) which increases bruxism.
Physiotherapy, with muscle exercises to help your relaxation and reduce pain caused by oral stress, is also sometimes recommended.
Definitely, Child bruxism occurs when the child clenches and grinds his teeth when he sleeps, and we must be attentive to its evolution and intensity, trying to reduce the possible causes that cause it for the child to sleep more relaxed and calm and avoid problems arising from this disorder.
Photos | thejbird and CarbonNYC on Flickr-CC On Babies and more | Night bruxism in children, Bruxism during pregnancy: clenching and grinding teeth
