What To Do If Your Child Chews On Things
If your child is one that likes to chew on things, they may be damaging his teeth without even realizing it. They could also be wearing out the muscle in his jaws, which can lead to TMJ (temporomandibular joint disorder) down the road for him as well. If your child likes to chew on things, it can be difficult to correct but is something you need to deal with in order to prevent tooth damage and other issues. Your child may be chewing on things to deal with anxiety, and it needs to be corrected. Read on for tips to help your child if they are a chewer.
Get A Mouth Guard
If your child likes to chew on things, they may end up needing a mouth guard to help protect his teeth and his jaw muscles and joints. A mouth guard will make it more difficult to chew on things, which can save your child's teeth and enamel from damage, and it can help to curb this issue. You can find mouthguards at your local pharmacy, or you can talk to your family dentist about getting a mouth guard for your child.
Curb The Anxiety
If your child is chewing on things, it may be due to anxiety reasons. If your child is anxious about something, it is something you should get to the bottom of and teach your child other ways to deal with their anxiety in order to prevent him from chewing on objects or different things. Teach your child about what it can be doing to their teeth if they continue to chew on things, and how important taking care of their teeth is.
Curb The Chewing
If your child chews on pencils, take away wooden pencils and give him a pen or a mechanical pencil to use. If your child chews on their nails, you can put an anti-nail biting polish on his nails that will give your child a bitter taste to help curb nail-biting. Keep an eye on your child to curb the chewing. If you're having trouble curbing the chewing, you can try to give your child sugar-free gum to chew on for a limited amount of time to help.
If your child is a chewer, it can end up causing damage to your child's teeth. Talk to your child's dentist about other things you can do to curb this bad habit.