Grinding teeth?

[Tonya]

I've always noticed that my son's teeth look ground down. I thought it was from all his trips and falls. Well, when we were sharing a bed in Oregon, I woke up to a horrible sound. I discovered that he grinds his teeth in his sleep.

I've never known anyone that does this. I know that there are those mouth thingys to prevent you from damaging your teeth. But he's only 6. I'd hate to see him have to wear that forever. Is this a habit that can be broken?

[micki76]

I'm 36 and I haven't broken it yet. I used to use a mouth guard, but now my retainer prevents me from doing it.

[Kfamr]

Isn't that like "lock jaw" or something?

My Biology teacher has it, and just a week or so ago from grinding her teeth so much, her tooth started to crack and crumble.

[wolfsoul]

You have to be really try and get him to stop --- Grinding the teeth is a bad habit that can cause teeth to break or sealents to pop out. Maybe talk to your dentist about it? I think that dentists supply mouth guards.

[CatDad]

I grind my teeth, in fact the dentist said that if I was seventy I would have great teeth. However seeing that I am more then 30 years younger then that. At this point I wear a nightguard and probably will for the rest of my life.

Just to let you know that lockjaw is something a little different. Although I think that you grind your teeth because of it.

Talk to your dentist, maybe there is something that can be done since he is still young. I guess that there are alot of reason that someone can grind there teeth. If you can find out why maybe it can be corrected.

[lovemyshiba]

I would talk to a dentist about it.

A guy I work with grinds his teeth, and is having a really bad time with is mouth lately. He was wearing a retainer, and a mouth guard, but neither were helping, and he was getting horrible migraines every day too, and in so much pain.
He saw 2 or 3 dentists, when finally one told him he had TMJ (I don't know the actual term for it).

His case is a bit extreme, but I would hate for Jaden to have to be in so much pain.

[robinh]

My dentist says I'm a champion grinder. I wear a mouthguard all the time. I take it out to eat, then brush my teeth and put it back in. Evidently my jaws don't line up properly so I grind trying to get my teeth in alignment. I used to get severe headaches from the night grinding. I'd do braces, but I have had so much dental work done (crowns and such) that the estimate they gave me to realign it was $10,000 to $14,000. The $400 guard works, so I'll stick with it for now.

Definitely have his dentist look at it and you can get a referral to a prosthodontist to see what they can do to help him.