Hi,
My five year old son is a tooth grinder. He has done this for some time judging by the state his teeth are in now. I have many times noticed that he clenches his teeth during the day. I don't know if he grinds at night.
I have shown this to our dentist more than once and he just keeps saying that it is very common and he will probably stop once his permanent teeth come through and the "bite" changes.
He is a happy boy with no obvious stress issues. He is in Reception, does really well, loves going to school and has many friends. We did have a couple of threadworm episodes last year and I understand that this can make grinding at night worse.
We have asked him not to clench during the day when we see it, keeping it all low key, and I think he is doing it less. I just do not understand why his teeth are still continuing to wear down.
What worries me is that his baby front teeth (especially at the top) have worn down at an alarming rate. He now only has little stumps left at the top (about 1.5 mm high) and this looks really strange. He was 5 in February, so hopefully he will have some new teeth coming through towards the end of the year, but who knows.
I never thought it could get so extreme that he won't have any incissors left at all at the top. Now it looks like he will have no teeth left before the new ones come through.
Has anyone else had this experience?
Thanks.
Sandra