What is chewing while sleeping?

Chewing while sleeping is a form of teeth grinding. There are many reasons for teeth grinding, the most common of which is intestinal parasites. Many children are prone to this condition, so they must take some anthelmintics. In addition, if you eat too much at night or lack vitamin D in the body, it may cause such symptoms. Depending on the different manifestations, corresponding treatment or conditioning should be carried out.

What is chewing while sleeping?

1. There are parasites in the intestines.

Ascaris parasitizes in the baby's small intestine, not only robbing nutrients, but also irritating the intestinal wall, secreting toxins and causing indigestion. If your baby's stomach often aches, it can cause insomnia, irritability and nighttime teeth grinding.

Pinworms can also cause teeth grinding. Pinworms usually parasitize in the human large intestine. After the baby falls asleep, the pinworms will quietly crawl to the anus to lay eggs, causing anal itching, making the baby sleep uneasily and causing teeth grinding.

2. Overeating at dinner

Or eating too close to bedtime will not only affect the absorption of nutrients, but also increase the burden on the gastrointestinal tract. Because when you fall asleep, there is still a lot of undigested food accumulated in the gastrointestinal tract, the entire digestive system has to "work overtime" and continue working. Even the chewing muscles are mobilized and involuntarily contract, causing teeth grinding.

3. Babies who lack vitamin D.

Due to the disorder of calcium and phosphorus metabolism in the body, it will cause bone decalcification, muscle soreness and autonomic nervous system disorder, and often cause excessive sweating, night terrors, irritability and nocturnal teeth grinding.

4. Mental tension or excitement.

Some babies do not usually grind their teeth, but if they listen to a gripping story before going to bed, or just finished watching scary or tense TV or cartoons, they may grind their teeth at night because their nervous system is overly excited. Another reason is stress. For example, the baby is not adapting to kindergarten life, is afraid of a certain child in the class, quarrels with parents or family members, etc. These will make the baby nervous and cause the baby to grind his teeth when sleeping at night. Additionally, some overactive babies may also grind their teeth at night.

Nocturnal bruxism can also be caused by uneven teeth alignment, excessive force on the chewing muscles, long-term chewing with one side of the teeth, poor tooth occlusion, and temporomandibular joint dysfunction. Moreover, babies with uneven teeth often have abnormal positions of their chewing muscles. When they sleep at night, their chewing muscles often contract unconsciously, causing bruxism.