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A lot of children grind their teeth. Most outgrow it around the age that the perm. 1st molars fully erupt. Around the age of 9.
You can not give children night guards like you do adults because it will inhibit their growth and devlopment.
It doesn't become a problem until the child grinds so much that it wears into the pulp chamber and becomes painful. That said I have seen several children who have VERY small teeth from grinding and the child said they never hurt. When they get really, really small the child then may have a problem losing them because they can't wiggle them out, a dentist has to extract. However, I see grinders all day long. I have only seen maybe 2 kids who needed to have help getting their teeth out.
The advice I usually give parents is that they may want to get a night guard to wear for themselves if they find themselves grinding their teeth because their child does.
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