5-year-old child grinding teeth at night

We often see people grinding their teeth while sleeping. This happens not only to children, but also to adults. This is because you eat too much at night and your gastrointestinal digestion function is not good, which leads to teeth grinding at night. Children's teeth grinding may also be a sign of mental disorder or the presence of intestinal parasites. If it is pathological, it may be a sign of rickets.

Some children will involuntarily clench their teeth and make a "clicking" sound after falling asleep, which is called "teeth grinding". Teeth grinding can occur periodically or every night, and the severity of the problem varies. So what causes teeth grinding?

1. Occlusal disorder. Occlusal disorders destroy the coordination of the chewing organs, so the body increases the grinding of the teeth to eliminate the occlusal disorders.

2. Mental factors. Being too nervous during the day or overly excited before going to bed will cause the nervous system to remain excited after falling asleep, increasing the tension of the jaw muscles and causing bruxism.

3. Intestinal parasites. Some children's bruxism is caused by intestinal parasites. The most common are roundworms and pinworms, which parasitize in the body, release toxins, and cause a series of symptoms such as abdominal pain, weight loss, irritability, anal itching, and teeth grinding is also one of the symptoms.

4. Rickets. Some rickets patients will grind their teeth at night, and also suffer from night terrors, crying, sweating, and irritability, which is caused by calcium deficiency in the body.

5. Indigestion. Eating too much at dinner or having a snack before going to bed will overload the digestive system. The gastrointestinal tract will continue working after falling asleep, and the chewing muscles will also move accordingly, causing teeth grinding. There are many harmful effects of nocturnal bruxism, mainly causing damage to organs such as teeth, periodontal tissues, chewing muscles and jaw joints. The direct friction between the upper and lower teeth will cause excessive wear on the teeth and also affect the quality of sleep. Parents can take their children to the dentistry department to check whether there are any bite problems. If so, adjustments need to be made. Sleeping in a supine position can reduce mechanical pressure on oral tissues and help reduce the occurrence of nocturnal bruxism. If you have intestinal parasites, take anthelmintics in time. People with rickets should supplement calcium and vitamin D in time. Don't let your children watch thrilling or scary TV shows before going to bed. Correcting bad habits of eating before going to bed is also a good way to prevent children from grinding their teeth. In addition, traditional Chinese medicine believes that teeth grinding is mostly caused by "worm accumulation" and "stomach fire", and taking Chinese medicine can also be effective.