Teeth Grinding?

My 2 year old GRINDS her teeth its annoying to me and I dont want her to ruin her teeth. Is there a way that anyone knows of that will stop her from doing it??

Answers:
Teeth grinding (also called bruxism) is a tough one. The first thing to remember is that it is EXTREMELY unlikely that any child or adult will grind their teeth away to nothing. The body repairs some of this.

The short answer is - the only way to stop the wear on the teeth is a mouth guard which can be made at the dentist. Two problems I have with these - #1: How many 2 year onlds would wear one of these all night and actually sleep, and - #2: Why force this on someone if they will eventually outgrow it and the risk of permanent damage is almost zero?

Talk to your pediatrician and dentist and see if they feel that the bruxism is excessive. If so, maybe a referral to a pediatric dentist is needed. But 99 times out of 100 this isn't necessary - either they wont grind enough enamel to cause permanent damage (I know, it SOUNDS bad but usually doesn't really wear away that much) - or they will outgrow it.

True, stress can make it worse - but this is usually not much of an issue for most 2 year olds. The stress level is usually much higher in the parent of a 2yo teeth grinder then in the 2yo herself!

Other Answers:
Yeah, give her a mouth guard.

Talk to your dentist

Does she do it in the daytime or at night? A mouth gaurd obviously will only work at night, and honestly I'm not sure they are recommended for such a young age. My son did this also around that age, in the daytime. It is pretty common and usually they outgrow it, he did pretty quickly. I wouldn't worry about it too much, especially because she still has her baby teeth which will be replaced.

Usually when children grind their teeth it is because they are feeling stressed. Yes, 2 year olds can feel stressed. Has anything changed recently? Your child is doing this is a stress reliever and/or attention getter. The best thing to do is ignore it and it will go away.

A good article on teeth grinding: http://parentcenter.babycenter.com/refcap/preschooler/pbehavior/63786.html
Source(s):
Years of working with children.

I have a 2 1/2 year old that does this also. She doesn't do it all the time but enough to make me worry and yes it annoys me too.....almost as bad as fingernails down a chalkboard. I brought it up to my pediatrician and he said it's more common then you think and that they actually outgrow it by 3 most of the time. It's been six months since the visit and I notice she has decreased a bit. He said it didn't really have anything to do with stress but more of them figuring out they can do it, that it makes noise and it gets a reaction out of the adults. Once I stopped worrying about it and didn't mention it to her when she did it it started to decrease. Good luck :)

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Teeth Grinding?

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