Unconscious teeth clenching during sleep is an oral health condition known as bruxism. While mild bruxism might not need any treatment, frequent teeth grinding might lead to jaw ailments, headaches, hair loss, and damaged teeth. It is essential to know if your kid is having bruxism before it causes complication.

The technological advancement in the dental industry offers practical solutions to prevent permanent damages caused by teeth grinding in kids. A custom dental night guard is an essential device for preventing any complication caused by this prevalent oral health condition.

While teeth grinding when asleep may not be harmful, it might cause some irreversible damage to your kid’s teeth. There are some vital signs to look out for that can help you know if your kid is clenching their teeth.

Jaw Pain

As Mom Junction attests, jaw pain in kids can be annoying and might have a significant impact on their routines. Therefore, you must treat it immediately. Kids that experience night clenching problems often wear an angry face after waking up in the morning. They will also have sore jaws. These are clear signs that your child has been grinding their teeth during sleep. It can be displayed as facial pain, swelling in the jaw and tooth pain.

In case you suspect that your kid has such problems and he is young to complain of pains, you can touch the face and jaws. Furthermore, kids with jaw pain will resist cleaning their teeth or touching their faces.

Regular Headache and Pain in the Ears

Headache can be a good indication of several different disorders in kids. Nevertheless, if they tend to happen frequently along with any of these other signs, the cause is likely teeth clenching. Muscles tension that takes place in the jaw when clenching might lead to severe headaches and sometimes earaches.

Grinding Sounds When they are Asleep

Loud and disturbing noises during sleep is a common indication of bruxism. Kids don’t know that they’ve been grinding their teeth in their sleep, but if you suspect this problem, try to listen for those sounds when your kid is asleep. Clenching sounds are always loud and are sure you will notice if they happen during nap time or before waking up.

Worn Teeth

If you find out that your kid has hewed teeth and he/she has never had a previous injury, it is a clear sign of teeth clenching. A worn surface on teeth crowns are effects brought by bruxism. To lessen these damages, get a custom dental night guard for your kid. Additionally, ensure that your kid uses a soft toothbrush.

Teeth Sensitivity

In most cases, damaged teeth as a result of grinding tend to be susceptible. Your kid will always complain of pain when consuming hot or cold foods. In this case, make sure that your kid is using a sensitive toothpaste to subdue the discomfort.

Damage on the Interior of the Cheeks

Teeth clenching might bring harm to the soft tissues in the mouth. This will leave small wounds on the interior of the cheeks. The effect is brought by unconscious chewing of the muscle with the teeth while grinding, and this might lead to mild bleeding.

Sleeping Disorder

Is your toddler is experiencing sleeping problems, or waking up throughout the night frequently? This might be a sign of teeth grinding. Look at other symptoms and listen to the sounds when your kid is sleeping. Tenacious clenching that doesn’t appear to lessen over time will rob your kid of good sleep. Baby Sleep Site points out that teeth clenching can disrupt sleep and make your kid wake regularly at night.

Teeth Grinding when awake

It is known that kids suffering from teeth grinding when asleep might as well unintentionally grind their teeth when awake. It can be hard to notice awake bruxism since it’s a mild grinding. Nevertheless, examine your kid while reading, watching or doing homework.

The Teeth Dream

If a kid is suffering from teeth grinding, he might have weird dreams like their teeth falling off, someone pulling off their teeth, or having teeth pain. Kids will take this as a nightmare, and they will always tell you.

Other Sleep Ailments

Teeth grinding during sleep is considered a sleep-related disease. When teeth clenching happens more often, other sleep ailments are associated with it. Your kid might be drooling or pauses when breathing. So, it is good to know the link between sleep ailments. Children with personality ailments like obsessive-compulsive have a high probability of having bruxism.

Pauses in breathing (or apnea) can also be an indicator of a different sleep disorder called sleep apnea. Sleep apnea affects two to three percent of children. Watch out for apnea episodes during sleep. Episodes can occur five times an hour for mild cases and greater than 30 times for severe cases. Read more about sleep apnea in kids to understand the condition better and know what you can do if you suspect your child has it.


While grinding is not harmful, it will cause various complications such as severe jaw or facial pain, headaches, and damage to teeth. If you notice these signs, get a custom dental night guard for your kid. The device will prevent the upper and lower jaw from getting into contact, reducing the effect of teeth clenching.