I have a 6.5 year old daughter who grinds her teeth EVERY SINGLE night. I can actually HEAR this from her bedroom at night. This isn't anything new,she's been doing this for as long as I can remember, and I did the same thing as a kid (still do sometimes). I took her to the dentist and mentioned it and he says she is simply too young for any kind of mouth guard and that there is nothing he can do. EVEN THOUGH he can see where she has actually chipped her teeth (its very noticable) from grinding them at night. She tells me during the day that her jaw hurts.
Is there ANYTHING I can do about this? I thought about buying those over the counter mouth guards but they look way too big and would likely not fit her small mouth. Does anyone else have a young child with this problem? Did their dentist say nothing could be done?
Thanks

Grinding teeth is very common in children. Their jaws are still growing and they are getting teeth. It is a very common reaction to that. That being said, it does sound like it is a problem for her though, especially if she is having jaw pain. Does she go to a regular dentist or a pediatric dentist? If she goes to a regular dentist, I would take her to a pediatric dentist for a consult. The mouth guards that a dentist makes are made from a mold of the mouth. They could make one to fit her, but she is still growing and that may be why they don't want to do one. It will not hurt to get a second opinion. I used to work in a dental office and we told the patients, that it is normal and the child should grow out of it. The jaw pain is what concerns me though. I hope you little one gets better soon.

I agree that they jaw pain is concerning. And she really could end up with a lot of problems with her teeth from this, as I am sure you know. I actually was 15 when I had to get a mouth guard for night. But I was putting so much pressure on my front teeth, that I fractured one of them and then tha led to a root canal. I would see if you can get her into a pediatric dentist because even though her mouth and jaw are still developing, she obviously needs some sort of help right now. There has to be something that they can do for her.