six year old grinding her teeth

[meli1981]

hi, my six year old daughter has been grinding her teeth at night. its awful! is this normal? is she doing damage to her teeth? should i take her to the dentist? have you seen this with any of your children? please share!

 

[austinsmom]

Yes- to answer all your questions, lol.
I believe it is normal. Yes, it can cause damage, as in cracked teeth, and I believe jaw issues as well. You should probably get your child to a dentist, at least to have a cleaning done, and mention the grinding to the dentist. They may recommend having a guard to protect their teeth at night. My DS has been doing this since he had teeth. Although it's not every night, I fail to mention it every time we're at the dentist, as I forget https://kidshealth.org/parent/general/teeth/bruxism.html#

 

[sabby52]

At that age it can be completely normal as her big teeth could be starting to move, has she lost any teeth yet ? Plus they get an extra molar round about 6 years old and that would be teething all over again, so grinding helps with the pain and pressure.

At this age there really isnt anything a dentist can do about it as her mouth will be constantly changing over the next few years, so a bite guard will be usless, as she will grow out of it every time she loses/gains a tooth.

Oh forgot to say I am a Dental Nurse

 

[meli1981]

she hasnt lost any baby teeth yet! im not sure, is this normal? theyre not even loose! lots of the kids in her kindergarten are missing multiple teeth. thanks for the info!

 

[sabby52]

she hasnt lost any baby teeth yet! im not sure, is this normal? theyre not even loose! lots of the kids in her kindergarten are missing multiple teeth. thanks for the info!

Completely normal, the average age to lose baby teeth is 6 but some lose them as young as 3 and some as old as 9. The grinding could be a sign that the big teeth in the gum are starting to move down, plus I would have a look at the back and see if any more molars are coming as she may be getting them

 

[FiNZ]

Hi there! Just to give you another couple of things to think about .... I have heard that if a child has worms, it can make them grind their teeth at night, so might be worth checking that out!

The other thing is, one of my daughters used to do it a lot, and I took her to the doctor and the doctor said it can be from stress and anxiety. Looking back, I am pretty sure it was because of that! She stopped it eventually, but it did go on for months and months. It was SO hideous to hear and I kept imagining her teeth wearing down!! (But they're fine!)

 

[sobersadie]

im a very bad and regular teeth grinder and have done since i was very young according to my parents and i havent done any damage to my teeth the dentist says (not sure if its the same for everyone though). ive woke myself up sometimes its so loud! lol dentist gave me a mouth guard but i take it out when im sleeping so its pointless. I do wake up with a stiff jaw sometimes but apart from waking up my bf it hasnt caused me any problems.