Patient's question:
My son is 14 months old. Recently, he has been grinding his teeth at night. What could be the reason for this? Is it caused by some medical condition?Doctor's answer:
Children sometimes grind their teeth unconsciously during sleep. This phenomenon often occurs when falling asleep after a full meal or excessive excitement. After a full meal, the gastrointestinal tract accumulates a large amount of undigested food, which keeps the entire digestive system working even after the child falls asleep. This continuous activity in the body's digestion and absorption still drives the chewing muscles, leading to grinding teeth during sleep. Additionally, grinding teeth can also occur in children during sleep after being overly excited.Besides the above reasons, if a child frequently grinds their teeth, parasitic diseases and rickets can also be reasons for this behavior.
Hookworm is a parasitic worm that lives in the human intestinal tract. While absorbing nutrients, it also secretes toxins that stimulate the intestinal wall, causing symptoms such as abdominal pain, restlessness, and night grinding of teeth. Therefore, parents should consult a doctor and give their children deworming medication.
Moreover, children with rickets may experience grinding teeth during sleep due to a lack of vitamin D in their bodies and poor absorption of calcium. This not only leads to skeletal symptoms such as a square head, outwardly flared lower ribs, and pigeon chest during growth but also causes neurological symptoms like excessive sweating, night terrors, and restlessness. Night grinding of teeth is also one of the symptoms. Timely treatment is necessary.