Night grinding of teeth (bruxism) - a symptom various diseases. To determine why a child grinds his teeth in his sleep, you need to monitor the emotional state and examine the baby. Ignoring bruxism can lead to unpleasant situations and the development of diseases.

How does the grinding sound come about?

Bruxism occurs at night due to contraction of the masticatory muscles. Normally, teeth only touch each other when eating, which causes friction. In a relaxed state, the jaws touch, but no friction is created. With bruxism, the jaw muscles are tense, the teeth are pressed tightly against each other, and the child grinds them.

Bruxism is a common phenomenon. Teeth grinding occurs in every third to fifth child. preschool age. Boys grind their teeth more often than girls.

Features of bruxism in children

Night rattles are not just a child's problem. This phenomenon also occurs in adults, but much less frequently.

The creaking sound of a child can be heard not only at night. Sometimes the problem occurs during daylight hours. Usually the attack does not last long, about 10 seconds.

If a symptom occurs from time to time, and the baby’s condition does not change, parents should not worry. If a child grinds his teeth often and for a long time in his sleep, and in the morning he is irritated and complains of headache, as well as in the jaw muscles, this is a reason to consult a specialist.

Sometimes parents may not be aware of the symptom, for example, if the child is older and sleeps in another room.

Attacks of bruxism that last longer than a month require treatment.

Why does a child grind his teeth in his sleep? Doctor Komarovsky will tell you about the reasons

1. The child's psyche has its own characteristics. Children tolerate stress and emotional stress differently. Even minor nervous stress can affect the baby’s body and manifest itself in teeth grinding at night. Bruxism indicates that the child’s nervous system has malfunctioned and is out of balance.
2. Grinding can often be heard when baby teeth erupt or when they are replaced by molars. Such processes are accompanied by itching and discomfort; the baby tries to scratch his teeth and grinds them. During teething, daytime bruxism is observed.
3. Pathology in the form of malocclusion, as well as diseases of the jaw joints, are manifested by night grinding.
4. Plays an important role hereditary factor. If one of the parents suffered from bruxism, the risk of night grinding in the child increases.
5. Babies who suffer from nightmares, sleepwalking or other sleep disorders often grind their teeth. This also applies to children who snore and talk in their sleep.
6. Adenoids, runny nose, otitis media are manifested by impaired nasal breathing and discomfort. The baby cannot breathe freely, especially at night, is restless, and grinds his teeth.
7. With a lack of microelements that affect muscle contraction and work nervous system, bruxism occurs. This is how a deficiency of calcium, magnesium, B vitamins and amino acids manifests itself.
8. If there is insufficient load on the jaw and the baby eats soft, pureed food, the child reflexively clenches his jaw at night.

Is teeth grinding at night associated with worms? The older generation confidently declares the presence of worms at the first manifestations of bruxism. But there is no direct connection between the presence of helminths and night grinding.

Bruxism can manifest itself both in children suffering from helminthiasis and in healthy children. Indeed, teeth grinding in children with helminthic infestation gets worse. The reason for this is the discomfort associated with helminths.

Why does a child grind his teeth day and night? Differences between daytime and nighttime bruxism

Daytime bruxism is more typical for emotional children, when even small troubles bring a whirlwind of emotions. The baby reflexively clenches his teeth and creates a characteristic creak. Experts classify daytime bruxism as bad habit, not pathology.

Can help a child professional psychologist who will find an approach to the baby and gently teach him to control his actions. It is unacceptable to scold and punish a child for grinding his teeth during the day; this will aggravate the problem and lead to other disorders.

There are special methods and exercises that can teach your baby to cope with bruxism.

When teething, the baby clenches his teeth, scratches, and bites. This is how the child experiments with his body, tries to try something new. Often, teeth grinding amuses a baby; bruxism should not be considered a problem. It is enough to gently show the child that this is not worth doing, you can buy a teether.

Night bruxism occurs involuntarily, and the baby cannot control it.

Often night grinding is accompanied by other manifestations:

• grinding, creaking, clicking of teeth, which lasts 10 - 15 seconds and is repeated periodically;
• increases during an attack blood pressure, pulse rate, baby breathes faster.

Why is teeth grinding worth treating?

Parents often ask whether it is worth resorting to drug therapy with teeth grinding at night. If bruxism is not considered a disease, maybe you shouldn’t pay attention to it?

Bruxism leads to complications that are invisible at first glance. Over time, changes become more pronounced and diseases arise.

The consequences of bruxism are as follows:

1. Daytime sleepiness.The baby cannot completely relax at night, fall into deep sleep, his muscles remain tense. After such a night, the child wakes up unrested, lethargic, and capricious.Cognitive functions are impaired, attention is lost, and academic performance decreases. Moreover, fatigue accumulates every day, the baby cannot rest properly.
2. Teeth enamel wears off. The child actively works with his jaws in his sleep, the enamel of the teeth is subject to constant mechanical stress. The thin enamel of children's teeth gradually wears off, causing increased tooth sensitivity and gum disease. The child refuses to eat sour, sweet, hot, cold.If you notice that your baby experiences pain while eating or cannot eat certain foods, consult a specialist. This may indicate hypersensitivity teeth, dental problems.If the enamel wears away significantly, a malocclusion occurs. If you miss the problem, malocclusion fixed, remains deformed.
3. Nervous system disorders. Neurological disorders appear when long term bruxism, when teeth grinding at night is not detected for a long time. Then the kids go to different specialists and cannot cope with the problem for a long time.

Clinical manifestations of neurology during bruxism are varied and are often “masked” as other diseases. Children complain of pain in the head, face, and neck. Possible dizziness, decreased vision and hearing.

Diagnosis of bruxism

If you notice signs of bruxism, the first thing to do is monitor your baby's sleep. Pay attention to how long the attacks last, how often the creaking appears.

Notice how the child behaved the day before, whether there were any emotional or physical activity. It is important to observe whether the problem manifests itself during the day and whether the baby’s condition is disturbed.

Then parents should contact a specialist. To clarify the diagnosis, doctors recommend conducting a polysomnographic study. This diagnostic method allows you to record contractions of the jaw muscles that occur involuntarily. The method helps to distinguish bruxism from hidden pathologies, indispensable for children at risk of developing epilepsy.

A dentist can also help diagnose bruxism. The doctor examines the baby’s oral cavity, determines the condition of the teeth and gums, and pays attention to the wear of the enamel.

In doubtful cases, the dentist recommends using a special brux checker. This is a mouthguard made from soft plastic or rubber, it is worn while the child sleeps. In the morning, the condition of the mouth guard is assessed; deformed areas indicate stress on the teeth in these places.

For precise setting diagnosis and prescription proper treatment the child should be consulted by related specialists. Such children are examined by a dentist, a neurologist, and a psychologist.

What to do if a child grinds his teeth in his sleep?

If the phenomenon of bruxism occurs rarely, the baby sleeps peacefully, and wakes up cheerful and cheerful, you can limit yourself to general recommendations Treatment of night teeth grinding.

1. Daily routine.The child must clearly understand the time of sleep and wakefulness, regularly take walks fresh air and get enough rest.
2. Rational nutrition. Balanced diet will provide the baby with all the vitamins and microelements and support the baby’s health. Eliminate too much from your diet sweet food, fat, heavy food, dyes and preservatives.You should not overfeed your baby at night, as this will also make the baby’s sleep restless. You need to have dinner 2 hours before going to bed.
3. Give solid food during the day. Try to treat your little one to an apple, carrots, and cabbage during daylight hours. Let your chewing muscles work to reduce nighttime muscle activity.
4. Getting ready for bed. Try to calm your baby down before bed by playing calm games. Helps to relax your baby hot bath, reading books, lullabies.If the baby gets loose before bedtime, be sure to calm the baby down. An overexcited child cannot sleep peacefully.
5. Family atmosphere. Children's behavior - mirror image family relationships. Create a homely, cozy atmosphere. Never sort things out in the presence of children.

Try to be attentive and patient to the baby’s requests, spend more time with him, hug and kiss the baby. Contact with parents is very important and prevents many psychological problems in the future.

If a diagnosis of bruxism has been established, the baby will need integrated approach to overcome the problem.

Treatment methods for bruxism

1. Psychological. Children suffering from bruxism need psychological support, attention and understanding. A competent psychologist will help the family overcome the problem and establish trusting relationships.
2. Somatic. Treatment of complications of bruxism, diseases oral cavity, gums, bite correction, selection of braces.
3. Medication. Taking medications that relieve nervous tension, normalize sleep: T enoten, glycine, drugs plant origin(valerian root). You can take soothing baths.To reduce muscle contractility, calcium, magnesium, and B vitamins are often prescribed.
4. Physiotherapeutic. Relaxing massage, facial compresses. Warm compresses Apply for 10 - 15 minutes on the cheekbones, repeat the procedure 2 times a day. Compresses help to relax, relieve tension and painful sensations in the muscles.

At severe symptoms To prevent bruxism, experts recommend wearing a special mouthguard while sleeping to preserve tooth enamel. They are made individually, taking into account all the characteristics of the baby’s oral cavity. Wearing mouth guards prevents changes in the child’s bite, relieves stress on the jaw joints, and reduces muscle pain.

Although the mouth guards are effective way prevention and treatment of complications of bruxism, they should not be considered a full-fledged treatment. To identify the cause of night grinding, it is necessary comprehensive examination child.

Prevention of night grinding

In order to prevent the development of the problem, you need to pay attention to the health of the baby’s oral cavity. Teach your child to care for his teeth, treat gum disease in a timely manner, and fill his teeth.

Try to protect your baby from stress and improve the climate in the family. Emotional children need to be supported and taught to calm down on their own. Older children should be taught self-relaxation techniques.

If your child grinds his teeth in his sleep, do not put off going to the doctor until later. This will prevent the development of negative consequences and help you quickly get rid of trouble.

Let's sum it up

Many parents face the problem of teeth grinding at night. Often these are short-lived attacks that go away on their own and drug treatment not required.

If teeth grinding becomes a private sleep companion, you definitely need to pay attention to the duration and frequency of attacks. The problem will also be indicated by a deterioration in the child’s general condition, weakness, irritability, fatigue, and impaired concentration.

At the first suspicious symptoms, you should immediately consult a doctor, who will prescribe a set of examinations and understand the causes of the problem. In case of bruxism, timely treatment will prevent the development of complications and preserve the baby’s health.

If parents hear their child grinding his teeth while sleeping, this almost always causes anxiety and concern. However, this condition, called bruxism by doctors, is quite common in preschoolers, such as children as young as 2 years old.

Grinding of teeth during sleep is observed in both young children and some adults

Statistics show that teeth grinding during sleep occurs in more than 50% of children under 8 years of age and about 3% of adults, but this condition is not called a pathology or disease. So that the appearance of a grinding noise does not frighten parents, they should find out what the causes of this phenomenon are and what to do to eliminate it.

Why does teeth grinding occur?

Grinding occurs due to involuntary contraction of the chewing muscles when the child's jaw clenches uncontrollably. This is more often observed at night, and can appear in children, for example, at 4 years old, and in adults. Most cases of teeth grinding occur in males. In children, such squeaks are usually short-lived (last about 10 seconds).

In the following video you can learn a little more about bruxism in children and its causes.

Psychological reasons

One of the most common factors that provoke the appearance of teeth grinding during sleep is considered to be psychological problems. These include:

• Stressful situations, such as adapting to kindergarten or school pressures, quarrels between parents, sudden weaning, addition to the family, moving and other situations that cause negative stress. Because of them, the baby becomes more excitable and irritable, or, on the contrary, whiny and depressed. This is what causes teeth grinding at night.
• Overwork. It can also be caused by excessive physical activity, and a significant teaching load. As a result, the child is capricious, tired, whiny, irritable, sleepy, feels depressed, is often sad, and sleeps less well.
• Lack of sleep, which can cause nightmares, disrupted daily routine, medications, increased excitability of the nervous system, nocturnal enuresis, frequent awakenings or problems falling asleep. If your child becomes overstimulated before bed due to prolonged viewing of television or computer games, as well as due to punishments, reprimands or quarrels, this often manifests itself at night by grinding teeth.

The cause of teeth grinding may be an unfavorable atmosphere in the house, quarrels and shouting.

Dental reasons

In more than half of young children, the cause of bruxism is the following physical factors identified by dentists:

• Problems with bite (the jaws do not close completely, one of them moves forward, there are gaps between the teeth). If a child’s bite is disturbed, the baby, due to discomfort, will try to place the teeth more conveniently and, as a result, grind them.
• Problems with the structure of the jaw joints. They can be congenital (anomalies of joint development) or caused by inflammation. In any case, this requires treatment by a dentist.
• Teething in early age. Due to the feeling of discomfort and itching, babies rub their teething teeth against each other. As a rule, in such a situation, bruxism disappears as soon as the teeth erupt and stop bothering the baby.
• Changing baby teeth in older children. This is a common cause of grinding during sleep in children 7-8 years old.
• Too little load on the gums due to insufficient quantity solid foods on the baby menu.

Heredity

It has been noted that if the child’s grandparents or parents have bruxism in childhood, the child’s likelihood of grinding teeth during sleep increases. At the same time genetic predisposition Bruxism often appears in boys over 3 years of age.

If one of your relatives suffered from bruxism, the likelihood that the child will experience teeth grinding increases

Diseases

The baby may grind his teeth when he appears severe runny nose, otitis or sinusitis. Also quite often, adenoiditis and nasal polyposis manifest as grinding sounds in a dream. With such diseases, the baby is bothered by a stuffy nose and discomfort in the ears or throat. As soon as the symptoms of the disease pass, bruxism also disappears, no longer occurring in a healthy toddler.

In some children, teeth grinding occurs during epilepsy, as a sign of seizures, so if episodes of grinding occur regularly, the child should be shown to a specialist.

Teeth grinding may simply be a symptom of some other disease and disappear after the baby recovers

Vitamin and mineral deficiency

It has been noted that insufficient intake of B vitamins, magnesium, calcium and some other elements into the body can provoke the appearance of muscle cramps, which result in periodic teeth grinding.

Komarovsky's opinion

The famous doctor always tries to warn parents not to associate grinding their teeth in their sleep with worms, as is common among the older generation. Komarovsky emphasizes that medical research have not confirmed such a connection, so there is no need to immediately give it to a child who grinds his teeth at night anthelmintics, No.

The popular doctor reminds that the exact causes of bruxism have not yet been established and in many children it goes away without treatment. If this phenomenon greatly bothers the child and threatens to damage teeth that are not yet strong enough, according to Komarovsky, you should definitely consult a doctor.

Consequences

If the cause of the grinding is a bad bite, constant grinding of teeth will wear away the enamel of the teeth. As a result, teeth become more sensitive, become loose and destroyed. They are often affected by caries, and the tissues around the tooth become inflamed. As a result, the child complains of pain in the jaw, teeth and headaches. In addition, the formation facial section the skull may be damaged.

Treatment

If the factors that provoked bruxism were teething, colds or weaning, no special measures There is no need to take any measures against grinding your teeth in your sleep. Everything will return to normal as soon as the illness or discomfort passes, and during weaning, as soon as the baby gets used to the changes. Consultation with a neurologist and treatment is only necessary in a situation where bruxism severely disturbs general condition crumbs and lasts longer than a month.

In case of bruxism caused by sleep disorders, it is advised to take the child to a somnologist, and in situations where grinding appears due to psychological problems, it is important to identify these problems and correct them. A neurologist can prescribe valerian, glycine, aromatherapy, sedative charges herbs, vitamin complexes.

The child will be advised to engage in quiet activities (reading, drawing, interesting games) and sports, walk more in the fresh air, take in the evening warm bath with herbal infusions and do a relaxing massage. If there are problems with chewing, it will be recommended to add solid foods to the baby’s diet that the child will be forced to chew, for example, carrots.

If the causes of grinding during sleep are related to dentistry, the child should visit a doctor who will recommend:

• Place mouth guards on teeth. This is the name given to special linings that prevent the enamel from being abraded by grinding.
• Use teethers if problems arise during teething.
• Treat your gums with an anesthetic gel and rinse your mouth herbal decoctions if your gums are inflamed.

Grinding of teeth during sleep in children is not uncommon. Often, teeth grinding, scientifically called bruxism, becomes a cause for considerable concern for parents. Often, trying to find the cause of childhood bruxism, they make a diagnosis based on folk beliefs who claim, for example, that the cause of teeth grinding is necessarily helminth infections. As a result, parents, instead of turning to a specialist, begin to independently treat their child for worms, giving him drugs that are unsafe for health. However, in reality, bruxism is not an unambiguous sign of infection with worms, and if you suspect that a child has helminths, you should first take the child to a doctor who will tell you what tests need to be taken and how to treat the child if the test result is positive.

At the same time, it is also impossible to ignore childhood bruxism, since teeth grinding can indicate certain problems and lead to negative consequences. After all, bruxism can have the most various reasons– both neurological and organic. Therefore, if a child grinds his teeth in his sleep, then it is necessary to consult a doctor about this issue.

An attack of bruxism in a sleeping baby can occur at any time, both superficial and deep sleep. The duration of such an attack is usually about ten minutes. After waking up, the child usually does not remember that he ground his teeth at night.

Bruxism itself is not usually considered an independent disease. However, on the one hand, it can be considered as one of the symptoms of some pathologies, on the other hand, its consequence can be, for example, damage to tooth enamel, leading to.

So, why is this dangerous and how to deal with it?

A child grinds his teeth a lot in his sleep: the main causes of the problem

Teeth grinding during night sleep is the result of involuntary contraction of the muscles responsible for chewing. During wakefulness, friction of the upper and lower teeth occurs only when biting and chewing food. With bruxism during sleep, the tone of the chewing muscles increases, as a result of which the jaw makes involuntary movements, accompanied by grinding of teeth. During the night, this phenomenon can be repeated several times. Often, parents may not know about bruxism in their child - for example, when he no longer sleeps with his parents in the same room.

For what reasons does bruxism occur in children?

There is an opinion that teeth grinding is a manifestation of the ancient instinct of sharpening teeth inherent in our ancestors modern man. However, there is no real scientific evidence for this hypothesis.

The following factors can cause teeth grinding at night:

• process or changing them to permanent ones;
• bite defects or deviations in the structure of the jaw joints;
• disorders of the nervous system or psychological problems;
• deficiency in the body of magnesium and calcium, which leads to the fact that the muscles become prone to involuntary contractions;
• genetic predisposition.

In some cases, teeth grinding is actually associated with helminthic infestations. However, this fact is not a basis for parents with burxism in a child to make an independent conclusion about the presence of helminthiasis.

Bruxism during teeth growth and change

When children under two years of age grow baby teeth, this is accompanied by considerable discomfort in the oral cavity. Children's gums are very itchy, so children behave capriciously and are ready to start gnawing on the first thing they come across. Itching leads to the fact that during sleep the child often rubs his gums against each other, and if some of the baby’s teeth have already appeared, then the parents hear a characteristic grinding sound.

Teethers

Solving this problem is quite simple. There are special baby teethers made of rubber that the baby can scratch his gums on. These devices not only satisfy the baby's need to scratch itchy tissues, but also speed up the teething process.

Teethers are also useful because thanks to them, the child will not put various objects into his mouth, on the surface of which there are many microorganisms, including pathogenic ones.

Uncomfortable sensations in the baby’s oral cavity can be reduced by using special gels that relieve inflammation and reduce painful sensations.

If bruxism is truly caused by teething, then it should stop after all the baby teeth have grown in. If a child continues to grind their teeth, it is likely that bruxism is caused by other factors.

Bruxism is often observed in children over six years of age, when teeth begin to change. In this case, the cause of teeth grinding is also uncontrolled movements of the jaw muscles due to itching in the oral cavity.

Bruxism due to nervousness

In force increased emotionality child, his nervous system is very unstable to various injuries. It is not without reason that mental trauma received by a person in childhood makes itself felt for the rest of his life. Stress can arise in children from any strong impression, for example, from the first trip to kindergarten, or even just from a visit with his parents to people he doesn’t know.

The child's instability to stress leads to nervous disorders, one of the expressions of which is teeth grinding at night. Nervous stress lead to some children grinding their teeth even in daytime. But if during wakefulness it is possible to control the jaw muscles, then during sleep the child cannot restrain involuntary muscle contraction in any way. The main factors that cause stress in children and provoke bruxism are:

1. The child is overloaded with studies, especially when parents take him to both music and languages, and, as a result, the child practically does not rest, and also does not show proper physical activity.
2. Negative atmosphere in the family, frequent showdowns between parents, lack of proper attention on the part of the latter to the child, or, on the contrary, excessive attention, expressed, for example, in excessive severity.

Neurological factors are among the most common reasons grinding teeth. Bruxism, in turn, aggravates nervous system problems in children. The child does not sleep well, as a result his nervous system is depleted, and this leads to fatigue, decreased academic results and many other negative consequences. Therefore, there should be a healthy environment in the family. All kinds of intra-family conflicts and mistakes in educational process lead to nervous disorders, which ultimately lead to organic disorders.

Genetic predisposition to bruxism

If long period time, even when there is no intensive growth of teeth and there are no neurological factors that provoke bruxism, then perhaps the cause of teeth grinding is hereditary pathologies anatomical structure jaw or malocclusion. If someone in a child’s family suffered from similar disorders, then most likely the cause of his deviations is heredity.

Boys are more prone to bruxism due to genetic factors.

Bruxism due to helminthiasis

Bruxism can also be caused following reasons, in addition to the above:

• problems breathing through the nose due to rhinitis or adenoids;
• cold;
• problems of a vegetative-vascular nature and impaired regulation of body temperature;
• poor microclimate in the room where the child sleeps - insufficiently fresh and too dry air, which clearly does not contribute to nervous and muscle relaxation, which is the key to healthy sleep.

Adenoids are a serious problem for everything child's body generally. Therefore, if, along with bruxism, a child experiences nasal congestion, susceptibility to colds, and snoring during sleep, then the presence of adenoids is very likely, and it is necessary that the child be examined by a specialist as soon as possible.

Consequences of a child grinding his teeth at night

If children experience bruxism, then parents should take appropriate measures. Because teeth grinding at night is far from harmless. The following consequences may result:

• nervous exhaustion;
• fatigue;
• general loss of strength;
• memory problems.

Children who grind their teeth in their sleep often have headaches and tend to sleep during the daytime.

The friction of teeth against each other leads to disruption of the protective layer of enamel. As a result, tooth tissue becomes accessible to harmful microorganisms. This leads to the development of caries.

Excessive loads on the jaw joints can cause the development of inflammatory process. The child begins to experience painful sensations radiating to the ears.

What to do if your child grinds his teeth while sleeping

If a child experiences bruxism, it is necessary first of all to visit the dentist. The doctor must examine the child's bite and the condition of his gums. Based on the diagnostic results, appropriate measures are prescribed. So, if the bite deviates from the norm, the child may need to wear orthodontic devices that correct the bite, such as plates or braces.

To prevent damage to the enamel during bruxism, it is advisable that the child wear a special rubber mouth guard at night.

If dental problems that can cause bruxism have not been detected, then it is necessary to properly organize the child’s regimen - in order to eliminate or at least reduce the factors that provoke neurological causes causing bruxism. It is necessary to provide the child good rest and remove unnecessary mental stress, while giving the child more time for active games in the fresh air and physical education.

For a child with bruxism

It is important to prevent children from becoming emotionally overloaded. You should not arrange several bright events in your child’s life in one day - for example, going to the zoo in the morning, going to the attractions in the afternoon, and going to the circus in the evening. Although the baby usually reacts positively to such trips, there is still an excess of even positive impressions can also negatively affect the nervous system.

If the child has neurological disorders, then to improve the condition of the nervous system, massage and baths can be used before going to bed. The bath water should be just warm enough for the child to feel comfortable - this way the nerves and muscles will come to a relaxed state. Sometimes sedatives may be needed to bring the nervous system back to normal.

If a child has problems with the nose, a visit to an otolaryngologist is necessary. Chronic rhinitis needs to be treated, otherwise, in addition to bruxism, others may occur negative consequences. The nose can also be stuffy with adenoids, which need to be removed as soon as possible. When breathing through the nose, the air is heated and cleaned of dust and microorganisms. Therefore, if a child is forced to constantly breathe through his mouth due to adenoids, then the risk of colds increases, especially in cold weather, and infection with various infections.

Teeth grinding in children is a fairly common phenomenon, which has a medically defined name - bruxism. Some experience only isolated cases of short-term creaking at night.

Other children experience regular and prolonged grinding at any time of the day. What is the danger of this pathology, why does it occur and what are the methods of treating it?

Description and symptoms

Bruxism is uncontrolled chewing movements of the jaw system, in which the same teeth of the upper and lower rows of opposite jaws come into contact. Accompanied by a characteristic sound reminiscent of a grinding or squeaking sound.

It is mainly observed during sleep, but in some cases manifestations may also occur during wakefulness. Bruxism is diagnosed in almost 50% of children.

This pathology is typical for children aged 6–8 years, but teeth grinding can also occur with the appearance of the first temporary teeth. At an older age, it is much easier to identify bruxism than in children, since the child can clearly express his feelings.

Most often this phenomenon accompanied by certain symptoms:

• pain in the jaw muscles, in particular those responsible for the chewing function;
• pain in the sinuses of the nasal passages;
• headaches of various types;
• itching and discomfort in the gums;
• pain and noise in the ears;
• muscle strain in the upper part of the neck;
• after waking up, a person is accompanied by a feeling of fatigue;

In children younger age The main symptom is a creaking or grinding noise during sleep. Besides this problem It can also manifest itself during the day: the child intensively gnaws on various objects.

If teeth grinding persists for a long time, the child should be examined by a doctor.

In general, we will be told about the problem of bruxism in the following video:

Main reasons

In medicine, the conditions for the development of bruxism have been studied for a long time. It has been revealed that there are many reasons for the occurrence of bruxism of various nature. Conventionally, they can be divided into two groups: local and general.

Local

To the reasons local character These include conditions that provoke pathology, which are localized in the area of ​​the temporomandibular system and adjacent areas of the body. The most commonly identified local causes are:

Regardless of what reason led to the occurrence of teeth grinding in a child, it is necessary to consult a specialist as early as possible.

General

This group of causes includes diseases general, invasions, the psycho-emotional state of the child and much more. To the main reasons general type include:

Psycho-emotional instability (stress). One of the common causes of bruxism. Children have not yet fully formed nervous systems, so all the impressions they receive have a more vivid emotional overtones.

This affects the depth of sleep, which becomes shallow and teeth grinding occurs.

Genetic predisposition. If one of the parents suffered from bruxism as a child or adult, then the child has the same problem in 70% of cases.

Lack of microelements and vitamins. Basically, teeth grinding is caused by a chronic lack of calcium and certain amino acids.

Consequences and diagnosis

Photo: Caries of baby teeth is one of the consequences of bruxism

This pathology, like all others, has negative consequences. Since the child constantly does not get enough sleep, he has the general condition of the body worsens, immunity decreases, and performance decreases.

Long-term absence of treatment leads to severe abrasion of tooth tissues, and, as a rule, caries development. Against this background, a number of other dental diseases: periodontal inflammation, loss of tooth root stability.

If bruxism is observed during the formation of a temporary or permanent bite, then its incorrect formation is possible.

Consequences can be avoided by promptly contacting a pediatrician and dentist, who will accurately diagnose the cause of the pathology. For this purpose, tests are prescribed to determine helminthic infestations, calcium content, allergies.

The child is examined by a neurologist and otolaryngologist. An EEG is performed and the fundus is checked.

Treatment

Despite the fact that bruxism is not officially a disease, doctors have identified ways to solve this problem and relieve the consequences.

Depending on the cause of teeth grinding, a number of characteristic measures are taken and a decision is made on how to treat bruxism:

Do not forget that treatment with medical supplies should be prescribed only by a doctor and used under his supervision.

Preventive measures

To avoid overstimulating your child whenever possible protect him from stressful situations . Special attention Pay attention to the situation in the house in the evening.

Avoid loud sounds, bright lights, active games. This will keep your child calm and reduce the likelihood of teeth grinding. During the conversation, try to find out what is bothering the baby.

The children's menu should be varied. The dishes included in a child’s diet should be not only nutritious, but also healthy.

Photo: carrots are the key to healthy baby and permanent teeth

A prerequisite for such nutrition is the presence large quantity calcium and vitamins. Coffee and strong tea must be excluded. It is advisable to eat food a couple of hours before bedtime.

Always follow your child's sleep and wake schedule to avoid overtiredness and nervous excitability.

Teeth grinding in children is most often episodic. But, since bruxism can develop into a habit and lead to undesirable consequences, the intervention of specialists is still necessary.

In conclusion, a video with Dr. Komarovsky about problems with children’s teeth:

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Contraction of the masticatory muscles, causing teeth to rub violently against each other, is a cause for concern for many parents. Bruxism is mainly a child's problem and more often the child grinds his teeth in his sleep. However, the disorder also occurs in adults. The disorder has causes and symptoms, which means treatment can be selected.

Bruxism - what is it?

Bruxism means contraction of the jaw muscles in which upper jaw touches the lower one with force and a characteristic creaking sound of teeth is heard. Most often, creaking is observed in children at night. It is less common to hear teeth grinding during the day.

The creaking person himself, as a rule, does not observe the violation. It is very rare when a baby wakes up from his own grinding of teeth. Bruxism can only be diagnosed from the outside by hearing the specific sound of teeth rubbing.

How can you tell if your jaw is contracting at night? To do this, you can pay attention to several symptoms that appear in the morning:

1. Feels as if your nodules (the chewing muscles in the ear area) have been working for a long time, grinding hard foods such as nuts. Pain also occurs in the upper neck;
2. Lack of feeling that you rested during the night, fatigue, drowsiness;
3. Headache and even migraine;
4. Unpleasant sensations in the sinuses;
5. Unpleasant, often painful sensations in the ears, ringing.

Why does a child often grind his teeth when he sleeps: an overview of the reasons

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If your child grinds his teeth, don’t worry (we recommend reading:). World organization Health care has not yet classified bruxism as a disease. However this violation nevertheless, it is a physiological problem, which means it requires treatment. To stop children from squeaking, you need to understand what causes the disorder.

Sleep disturbances (at night and/or during the day)

A common cause of teeth grinding during sleep is one or another sleep disorder in a child. If the baby talks in his sleep, suffers from sleepwalking or urinary incontinence, snores, coughs, this can cause involuntary contraction masticatory muscle. Observe your baby while he sleeps and talk to him about his dreams, as nightmares are a common factor in childhood bruxism.

Teething

When a child is teething, he experiences pain and itching. This forces him to involuntarily grind his teeth. Similar phenomenon It is also observed when milk teeth are replaced by permanent ones. However, please note that teething and loss of milk teeth lead to creaking more often during the day than at night.

Adenoiditis

Adenoids - nasopharyngeal tonsils - reach their maximum size in children aged 3-7 years. At the same age, the baby begins to attend kindergarten and various sections, where he encounters a large number viruses, as a result of which he often gets sick. Often the adenoids are in an inflamed state long time. All this provokes nasal congestion and swelling of the nasopharynx. A child of 4, 5, 6 and even 9-10 years old experiences discomfort and responds by grinding his teeth in his sleep.

Formation of malocclusion

The bite is formed along with the growth of the child’s first teeth. Malocclusion is a violation of the natural closure of the upper and lower teeth. According to statistics, malocclusion occurs in 40% of the world's population. Some people don't care about this problem. However, there are cases when, due to an incorrect bite, difficulties arise in speaking or chewing food (we recommend reading:). If your baby's teeth don't close properly, this can cause them to grind at night. For parents, tooth friction in this case is a signal to contact the dentist to correct the bite.

Stress factor

The child reacts very emotionally to the world around him. These emotions are not always positive. Negative stress and emotional upheaval cause anxiety, which manifests itself in different ways, including grinding your teeth at night. The baby’s nervous system is out of balance, and here it is necessary to eliminate the cause of his anxiety in order to cope with the involuntary closure.

Hereditary factor

A hereditary factor often leads to infants starting to grind their teeth at night. As already mentioned, involuntary friction is not only a children's problem. It also appears in adults various reasons. If one or both parents suffer from teeth grinding at night, then a large share Chances are their baby will also have this problem.

What is the danger of teeth grinding during sleep in children?

Parents are concerned about the main question: is childhood bruxism dangerous and why does it occur? It should be noted that teeth grinding is not a symptom of any complex disease. Studies conducted with infants from birth to 8 months have shown that closure does not cause severe complications and death.

However, the problem should not be written off so easily. Teeth grinding can cause the following unpleasant symptoms in a child:

1. destruction of enamel, carious lesions and the development of dental diseases;
2. formation of malocclusion;
3. disruption of a child’s healthy sleep;
4. very young children can wake up from their own grinding, become frightened by it and cry;
5. If several children sleep in the same room, the grinding of one of them can cause sleep deprivation for the others: grinding teeth, as a rule, interferes with the sleep of those nearby.

In a hurry to reassure parents, we note that children’s teeth rubbing in the vast majority of cases goes away without a trace and by itself. However, it is often a consequence of some other disorder in the body, so the problem of teeth grinding should not be discounted.

What should parents do: principles of treatment for bruxism

Since bruxism is not a disease, the treatment of this disorder does not include drug intervention. For the most part, treating teeth grinding comes down to eliminating its causes. What can parents do to correct night grinding? one year old child or teenager:

Daily prevention measures

Daily prevention includes the same points for treatment one month old baby, one-year-old or teenager. Prevention consists of eliminating possible reasons development of bruxism. These include quiet games before bedtime and conversations about emotional state child, and a review of the diet, and visits to specialists such as a dentist and gnathologist.

Also make sure that your baby rinses his mouth and brushes his teeth in a timely manner. Toothbrush and paste should be appropriate for the baby’s age. The Right Means hygiene can be discussed with your dentist.

Doctor Komarovsky's opinion

Dr. Evgeny Olegovich Komarovsky, who is also an author of books and a TV presenter, touched upon the topic of childhood bruxism at one of his seminars. The pediatrician confirmed the problem and indicated that nighttime crunching is typical for every fifth child under the age of 8 years.

Komarovsky does not name dangerous phenomenon that children around four years of age grind their teeth. He does not even classify this disorder as a disease. The pediatrician states that bruxism is not dangerous, although it must be corrected. In particular, Komarovsky calls on parents to show their child to a dentist to rule out causes of bruxism such as premature wear of enamel and malocclusion, and to a neurologist who will assess the state of the child’s nervous system.