Bruxism In Children And Adolescents (Grinding)

1. What is bruxism?

Bruxism is the unconscious and involuntary habit of clenching or grinding teeth. This means that a person with bruxism is mostly unaware of, and unable to stop the habit.
It can take place at night when asleep or during the day.
Bruxism is not common in young children but it can affect adolescents.

Mild toothwear
of upper baby teeth

Yellow dentine
on baby teeth

Bruxism is thought to be stress related.
It may also be seen in children with cerebral palsy and in some with learning difficulties.

The treatment of bruxism will be to control the causes, which are usually stress and other medical conditions.
- These causes are dealt with by psychologists, psychiatrists and medical specialists.
- Behaviour modification with relaxation training can be used to treat bruxism.
The toothwear is corrected by the dentist.
- Nightguards can help to lessen the effects, and protect the teeth from further damage.
- They can be made from a soft silicone material or from a hard acrylic. The hard version is called a bite plate.
- They are designed to cover the biting surfaces of the teeth in one of the jaws, usually the upper.
- Nightguards prevent the upper and lower teeth from grinding against each other.
- The acrylic nightguard may also relieve jaw joint ailments caused by bruxism.

Generally bruxism is not treated in children, as they lose their baby teeth anyway.
Bruxism in adolescents will be treated in much the same way as in adults:
- Where bruxism has resulted in severe toothwear, the teeth will need to be restored.
- The teeth can be fitted with replacement crowns or onlays to restore the worn down teeth.
- These measures will restore the teeth to their normal size, and the jaws to their normal position when they are closed.
- The appearance of the teeth and face can be greatly improved.

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