A few months ago, Clarisse picked up a very annoying habit. Grinding her teeth. It annoyed us to no end because the more we asked her to stop doing it, the more she’d do it.

It may simply be her sudden discovery of a new physical sensation by grinding her teeth. I have even asked the paeditrician why Clarisse is doing it and would it be advisable to bring her to a dentist. According to her experience, dentists have yet to determine what cause toddlers to grind their teeth. At least the mental and emotional side of it. But I was also told that teeth grinding, as horrible as it can sound, would never be severe enough to cause much worry. Baby teeth are only meant to last for a span of few years so long lasting problems are negligible. Even so, it would take much more severe grinding to wear out their teeth.

What to do

Dehydration may be linked to teeth grinding. Make sure your toddler drinks lots of water to prevent dehydration.

Massage and stretching exercises tend to relax their muscles. Stress in children of school going age may cause teeth grinding.

With the case of preschool toddlers, bear with the annoying sound of teeth grinding no matter how horrible it can sound. I am lucky Clarisse is barely 15 months old and with her tiny set of teeth, doesn’t make such an unbearable scratching noise. It was the thought of her teeth exposed to the damage of grinding that worries and annoys me more than the sound.

Does your child’s teeth gnashing indicates tension or anxiety? Rarely because of their young age. What you should be worried about is evidence of significant jaw discrepancy that is the cause of toddler’s teeth grinding. In this case, a dentist’s help and monitoring is required. A dentist’s intervention is usually required for school going age children if teeth grinding becomes a pro longed occurance.