Child Bruxism Study

Bruxism is a functional disorder that occurs in many children. Although the term is not known to many people, we all know what it is. It’s the grinding of teeth, the reflex of clenching your teeth while we sleep. This disorder affects about 20% of children, a number equivalent to the incidence in pregnant women.

Hearing that children grind their teeth can be worrying for some parents. The lack of knowledge about the subject can leave parents in a state of alert. The noise of teeth grinding at night can be quite loud and frightening.

Do not worry. While it looks like your teeth are going to break, it’s not going to happen. However, if bruxism is prolonged, damage to tooth enamel can occur. Teeth grinding is a totally involuntary action, but in small children it can cause headache, earache, neck pain and even jaw structure.

Causes of bruxism

Grinding your teeth in your sleep doesn’t seem to have a functional purpose. Until now, it’s been known as an involuntary reflex that can border on habit. In children, it is more common to occur at night, and at least two types are identified:

• Centric bruxism: is when jaw tightening occurs. It is more common to observe during the day, especially in children who are not aware of this habit
• Eccentric bruxism, when teeth grinding occurs. It can occur both day and night, with the same frequency.

The causes of bruxism can be at least two: physical and psychological. When the cause is psychological, it is related to tension or emotional stress. It is common among children who suffer from hyperactivity or anxiety. These children are often nervous and constantly switch from one activity to another.

While children are active they can clench their jaws or scrape their teeth. However, this can get even worse when they go to bed. These children remain with the same energy while they sleep, which reflects on bruxism. Despite this, anxiety is still the most frequent cause of bruxism.

When referring to physical causes, bruxism is a symptom that accompanies earache or headache. It is also common during teething, when teeth are coming in or falling out, which can be uncomfortable. In addition, new teeth interfere with the way children close their mouths due to the new tooth structure.

Some beliefs say that this disorder is caused by parasites in the child’s intestines, which manifest their discomfort by grinding their teeth.

How is childhood bruxism treated?

Although this problem causes alarm or discomfort, it is not usually taken to the doctor. Sometimes it can be a transient disorder, for example, if it is caused by an illness, it can end when the child gets better. For better clarity we should note whether bruxism matches the descriptions of causes mentioned above.

The problem can also be diagnosed through a dental exam, even when it still doesn’t seem like a big deal. If the child has more serious injuries it is necessary to seek specific treatment, but if on the other hand the symptoms are milder, this will not be necessary.

Anyway, experts often recommend treatments to relieve anxiety. Bruxism can also be treated with non-invasive anti-stress therapy. It is generally recommended to carry out activities that make the children relax and be distracted.

The main recommendation is to channel your anxiety and, above all, prevent the child from going to bed anxious, angry or sad. Also, it is advisable to calm her nerves so that she is less worried about your problem, which makes her more anxious.

It is usually suggested to treat the causes more than the bruxism itself, because it does not always damage the teeth. In a more serious case it would be when bruxism affects the jaw muscle. In these cases, a protective splint can be placed to prevent permanent injury.

Finally , the idea that the disorder could be caused by parasites must be ruled out. There is no scientific evidence that there is a relationship between the two, although they may coincide in many cases. Experts believe that when bruxism occurs in this situation it is because there was already a predisposition in the child.