Nighttime Teeth Grinding in Children

Most adults tend to grind their teeth when they sleep at night. Some children also grind their teeth when they sleep, making a sizzling sound like a mouse biting something. In fact, the phenomenon of children grinding their teeth indicates that there is a disease in their body. At this time, parents must take their children to check their bodies. Most of them are gastrointestinal problems. So what should children do if they grind their teeth at night?

It is a common problem for children to grind their teeth while sleeping. Babies will grind their teeth involuntarily when sleeping at night, just like a little mouse biting something, making a squeaking sound. So what is the reason why children grind their teeth at night?

1. Intestinal parasites

Ascaris parasitizes in the baby's small intestine, not only robbing nutrients, but also irritating the intestinal wall, secreting toxins and causing indigestion. If your baby's stomach often aches, it can cause insomnia, irritability and nighttime teeth grinding.

Pinworms can also cause teeth grinding. Pinworms usually parasitize in the human large intestine. After the baby falls asleep, the pinworms will quietly crawl to the anus to lay eggs, causing anal itching, making the baby sleep uneasily and causing teeth grinding.

2. Overeating at dinner or having a snack before going to bed

This not only affects the absorption of nutrients, but also increases the burden on the gastrointestinal tract. Because when you fall asleep, there is still a lot of undigested food accumulated in the gastrointestinal tract, the entire digestive system has to "work overtime" and continue working. Even the chewing muscles are mobilized and involuntarily contract, causing teeth grinding.

3. Babies who lack vitamin D

Due to the disorder of calcium and phosphorus metabolism in the body, it will cause bone decalcification, muscle soreness and autonomic nervous system disorder, and often cause excessive sweating, night terrors, irritability and nocturnal teeth grinding.

4. Mental tension or excitement

Some babies do not usually grind their teeth, but if they listen to a gripping story before going to bed, or just finished watching scary or tense TV or cartoons, they may grind their teeth at night because their nervous system is overly excited. Another reason is stress. For example, the baby is not adapting to kindergarten life, is afraid of a certain child in the class, quarrels with parents or family members, etc. These will make the baby nervous and cause the baby to grind his teeth when sleeping at night. Additionally, some overactive babies may also grind their teeth at night.

5. Dental problems

Nocturnal bruxism can also be caused by uneven teeth alignment, excessive force on the chewing muscles, long-term chewing with one side of the teeth, poor tooth occlusion, and temporomandibular joint dysfunction. Moreover, babies with uneven teeth often have abnormal positions of their chewing muscles. When they sleep at night, their chewing muscles often contract unconsciously, causing bruxism.

6. Bad sleeping posture

If the baby's head often tilts to one side when sleeping, it will cause incoordination of the chewing muscles, causing abnormal contraction of the chewing muscles on the compressed side, resulting in bruxism. When babies sleep with their heads covered at night, excessive accumulation of carbon dioxide and insufficient oxygen supply can also cause teeth grinding.

If your child grinds his teeth at night and this happens frequently, you need to check the reasons mentioned in this article to see what the problem is with your baby and make timely adjustments so that the child's teeth grinding condition can be improved.