Why do you grind your teeth when you sleep?

Grinding teeth while sleeping is quite common, especially among teenagers. There are many causes, the most common of which is intestinal parasites. When there are intestinal parasites, patients often have gastrointestinal problems and malnutrition, etc. There are also other reasons, such as mental tension and digestive disorders, which can easily cause teeth grinding while sleeping.

Why do you grind your teeth when you sleep?

There are many reasons for grinding teeth while sleeping at night, including tension, psychological anxiety, depression, gastrointestinal diseases, indigestion, excessive fatigue, lack of trace elements in the body, enterohelminthiasis, ascariasis infection, etc.

1. Intestinal parasitic diseases. The toxins produced by roundworms stimulate the intestines, speeding up intestinal peristalsis, causing indigestion, pain around the navel, and restless sleep. If the toxins stimulate the nerves, they will become excited and cause teeth grinding. Pinworms also secrete toxins and cause anal itching, affecting children's sleep and causing teeth grinding sounds.

2. Excessive mental stress. Many children watch thrilling fighting scenes on TV at night or play too much before going to bed, which can also cause bruxism due to mental stress. If you are scolded by your parents for a long time because of something, it will cause depression, uneasiness and anxiety, which is also an important reason for nocturnal teeth grinding.

3. Digestive dysfunction. If children eat too much at night, a lot of food will accumulate in their intestines when they go to sleep. The gastrointestinal tract has to work overtime, and the heavy burden will cause involuntary teeth grinding while sleeping.

4. Unbalanced nutrition. Some children are picky eaters, especially those who don't like to eat vegetables, which leads to nutritional imbalance and deficiency of calcium, phosphorus, various vitamins and trace elements, causing involuntary contraction of the facial chewing muscles at night, and grinding of the teeth back and forth.

How to prevent teeth grinding

1. Eliminate tension. Get rid of unnecessary worries, be open-minded, arrange work reasonably, and take tranquilizers orally when necessary, 1-2 times a day, one tablet each time.

2. Develop good living habits. Maintain a regular daily routine, do not eat too much at dinner, and do not do strenuous exercise before going to bed. Children in particular should develop good hygiene habits.

3. Those suspected of having intestinal parasites. Carry out deworming treatment under the guidance of a physician to reduce the peristalsis of intestinal parasites and irritate the intestinal wall.

4. Correct bad habits of the dental and maxillofacial system. Such as unilateral chewing, biting pencil, wrong teeth, etc.

5. No improvement has been seen despite the above treatments. You should go to a dental hospital to make a dental pad, wear it on your teeth before going to bed at night, and take it off in the morning. The pad eliminates distractions and relieves muscle tension.