Preschool-age children who grind their teeth are more likely to have problems in preschool and to be withdrawn. American researchers asked the low-income parents of 1,956 preschoolers if and how often their 4-year-olds grind their teeth while asleep. Roughly 38 percent of the preschoolers were reported to grind their teeth one or more times per week and nearly 7 percent reported this behaviour four or more times per week. The prevalence of tooth grinding within the population that was studied was very high (37 percent). Studies show that typically around 20 percent of children younger than 11 years old grind their teeth at night. As the frequency of tooth grinding during sleep increased, parents were also more likely to report that their child was withdrawn or that they didn't get involved with others and that preschool adjustment was poor. We can't assume that tooth grinding causes withdrawn behaviour or problems in school, but there is some kind of dynamic relation between tooth grinding and preschool adjustment. Tooth grinding is not something to ignore, as it can lead to temporomandibular joint pain and frequent arousals during sleep, and nighttime arousals lead to sleep fragmentation and there is a plethora of research that deleterious effects of sleep fragmentation on functioning and health.
Annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies
June 2008