Does Your Child Grind His Teeth At Night? (Bruxism)

Parents are often concerned about the nocturnal grinding of teeth (bruxism). Often, the first indication is the noise created by the child grinding on their teeth during sleep. Or, the parent may notice wear (teeth getting shorter) to the dentition. One theory as to the cause involves a psychological component. Stress due to a new environment, divorce, changes at school; etc. can influence a child to grind their teeth. Another theory relates to pressure in the inner ear at night. If there are pressure changes (like in an airplane during take-off and landing, when people are chewing gum, etc. to equalize pressure) the child will grind by moving his jaw to relieve this pressure. In the past the majority of cases were not treated.

Now we know that grinding reflects breathing difficulty.

Children who grind need help to breath better. The Myobrace therapy restore proper positioning of the tongue and other muscles of the face and body. It results in stopping the grinding and restoring the jaw in proper bite (occlusion) and teeth in proper position.