Why does the child grind his teeth.

Suddenly it turned out that your child is grinding his teeth while sleeping. For a long time it was believed that if a child grinds with teeth, this is a sure sign that worms appeared in his body. However, doctors argue that gnashing teeth is not at all a sign of the presence in the body of a child of any parasites. What are the real causes of this phenomenon?

The phenomenon, when a child grinds with teeth, is called bruxism in medical practice. According to research, this problem is typical for every third and even every second child of junior and middle age. The nature of bruxism has not been fully understood to the present day: either it is a disease, or the usual reaction of the organism to some stimuli.

However, there are several most probable assumptions why a child grinds his teeth during sleep:

1. This phenomenon may well be inherited. If at least one of the parents gritted his teeth in a dream, then the child may have a predisposition for bruxism at the genetic level.

2. Stress, mental, nervous, emotional stress may well be the cause of nocturnal dental screeching. If the child grinds with his teeth, it is very likely that the baby is disturbing something. In this case, you need to contact a psychotherapist, neuropathologist or psychologist.

3. Teething in the child is accompanied, as a rule, by itching and discomfort. At this time, there may be a strong desire to scratch your teeth and not only in a dream. Therefore, during this period, scratches are also observed with teeth, but in this case it is a safe phenomenon that does not require special measures.

4. The child grinds his teeth as a result of an incorrect bite. Various kinds of disorders of the dental or jaw system often cause muscle tension and a strong desire to creak with teeth, as a result of which they are rubbed against each other.

5. Sleep disorder, sleep depth disorders. Scratch teeth in this case is in the same row with nightmares, snoring, enuresis.

Treatment of bruxism because of not fully studied nature of this phenomenon can not be concrete and effective. However, in any case, you should refer to such specialists as a neurologist and dentist. The neurologist will help to identify the psychological cause of the gnashing of teeth, and the dentist will take measures to protect the teeth from destruction during friction. Most often, a special tire is made, which is worn on the teeth at night to protect them from friction.

Dental rasping can be very different. There are insignificant in duration of manifestation, not more than ten seconds. They do not pose any serious danger to the child's organism. When a child scratches his teeth intensively many times at night, lasting much more than ten seconds, then in this case one should seriously think about treatment. First of all, this concerns children who suffer from bruxism for months and even years.

The treatment of bruxism completely depends on many factors: the time of the development of the disease, the age of the child, the possible causes and the nature of the appearance of the dental rasp. Very often night bruxism is quite possible to eliminate by own strength at home. However, if necessary, in no case should you refuse the help of specialists. After all, in the subsequent adult life, the consequences of bruxism may well create some discomfort and difficulties in communication. In addition to heavy wear of teeth and damage to the temporomandibular joint, there is a very high likelihood of developing such dental diseases as periodontitis, caries and others. Very often in children who grind their teeth, the cutting of incisors and canines is observed.