Teeth grinding

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DD (7) has a learning disability, is deaf and has ?ASD (waiting for assessment but its pretty obvious she had really). She tends to gfrind her teeth, mainly first thing in a morning but often when she's tired or not feeling so well.

Does anyone have any advice on what I can do to stop this or at least, minimise it?

She ground down one of her baby teeth and now she has lovely new adult teeth, I don't want her to damage them.

Many thanks in advance

My DS (asd) used to do this, and I would hold his jaw and say "no" firmly. But tbh I think he more or less just grew out of it, as it is now v rare. Sometimes he still does it at night, as strangely enough do I (I wear a mouth guard). I know some people have recommended immediately redirecting to a chew toy, every single time she does it. Must admit I preferred just "no" - as a chew toy just seems a replacement rather than a solution. Good luck!

Bee uses therapeutic chewing toys, otherwise she would be gnawing on her hands, clothes, lips, and grinding her teeth.

She has one chew similar to this

All the different ones on this page

And several of the ARK chews

And while we don't have any like these, I REALLY like them and may get one/some. Have to check if they will ship to Canada.

We did, however, not like these ones. Not because the chew itself is substandard, but because Bee would rather chew on the string and destroyed the "safety" connector on the string in a matter of moments.

We tried the kid companions chewlery but were not thrilled about it. Nothing wrong with it, but because Bee could stuff the whole pendant in her mouth... she did

We also give her e wet wash cloth to chew on when she is really determined to grind her teeth or chew her clothing - it helps a lot and is great in a pinch.

I grind my teeth at night (apparently) and got a mouth guard from the dentist.
It was a big no for me. I have tried so hard, trying to keep it in my mouth a bit longer each day - but still haven't managed past 5 minutes.
just a warning that if you have DCs that have issues with swallowing or sensory issues, anything like this might be an issue.

The best solution for nighttime chewing as a mouth guard, but I have yet to meet a child with even the mildest of oral sensory challenges that will use one.

Bee is so accustomed to chewing on something "appropriate" that she will reach for one of her chews in bed now, but particularly when she is sick, she still grinds her teeth.

If you can limit the grinding and clenching while your DD is awake, you might find it decreases while she is asleep as well. Even if she is still doing it in her sleep, the amount of time in the day she is doing it will decrease, and subsequently, so will the damage.

Hi and thank you all for your replies. It does tend to be a morning thing although as she will happily chew her toothbrush (if I'd let her) I may look for something you've suggested to replicate that feeling.
Thanks again.

Oh, I've been known to sacrifice a toothbrush or many when one of Bee's chews wasn't available. You do what you have to, I guess.

I grind y teeth at night and wake up with horrendous headaches and jaw ache! I have a mouth guard which stops it and I get on ok with it but doubt that would be very successful with any child really. Sorry :(