Aaron's newest stim.

The dentist says he doesnt even have evidence of grinding-- but its like after every sound he makes he grinds his teeth super hard.

There's a little boy at church that is autistic and around Aaron's same age, that does the same thing.

Just wondering if any of your kiddos do/did the same thing. When I hear him to it, I usually thump his mouth and tell him no. Most of the time he wont do it for a while afterward. But he's still a kid that likes to get away with things.

*siiigh* Someone please tell me there's a light at the end of a tunnel somewhere with this one LOL!

jUnGlE wOmAn

I believe, if my memory serves me well, discussion about chewers, or biters...and, perhaps, grinders and that keeping him busy by chewing on some gummy toy. I remember looooonnng time a co worker who couldn't help it to chew on every pencil while we had meetings, or just when was thinking pondering without realizing doing it. A friend's NT son grinds his teeth when he sleeps so he wears special dental apparatus and he goes through several a year.

Instead of saying don't do that give him something to grind on? I don't know.

My son never did that. Only when he was on large amounts of Valproic acid that he bit spoons, etc. so bad to wear off his teeth, when the VPA was reduced he stopped and the doc said that the drug was causing 'too much tension'.

seems some autistic like preasure of sort. there is some lady professor off in colorado who works with animals (cattle and such) who has a preasure suit (air pressure) and she lays in it. not sure exactly why? but i grind my teeth and seems i really do it a lot. like awake and asleep when thinking and seems just a ton through out the day. seems there could be a corilation of the pressure "sensors" from my teeth and the doctor ladies pressure suit? or maybe i am reaching for this association? but they seem very similar and i do get an ejoyment of sort when grinding my teeth?

oh plus my wife is starting while she is sleeping so the dentist just told her to start wearing the guard at night.

oh plus i use to (and still kinda do just not as much) stick my tongue out when i am thinking. and i would wisper say my words sometimes. meaning i would say something and then say it again just in a wisper right after. that actually has no corrilation to the bitting and grinding thing. but oh well. it does deal with my mouth.

Its really great to get your perspective Moose!!

Temple Grandin is who you are referring to. She used a cattle press to get over her sensory disorders.

I am a total mouth sensory person. Pens and pencils never survive being around me. I always chew them up. I really wonder if Aaron does, in fact have a sensory issue that its helping him deal with.

When he started school last year, they gave him this little rubbery letter Q to chew on.

I tell you-- I bit down on it really hard and I felt it in my sinuses when I released my bite-- and it felt REALLY good to do it.

So, you're probably right about the teeth grinding.

Thanks for the input!!

I have had problems like bruxism, nail biting and chewing on the inside of my mouth growing up and through adulthood. I still have these periods where I want to chew the inside of my mouth. This is one symptom that has been pretty presistent in hanging around.

This is a nervous habit, which I think is related to my vitamin b6 deficiency. But I actually think my low b6 levels may be doing something to my magnesium levels. Nervous habits seem like they are more about magnesium. But this is one symptom that seems to persist for me.

In the book Enzymes for Autism, the auther calls this the chewies. This is a pretty common problem though.

I will even sometimes consider chewing a piece of gum to deal with that need to chew. But most times I grab a sublingual b6 supplement that seems to work for me.

The bruxism is more damaging to teeth in the long run.

or tooth grinding or clamping the jaw, responds to magnesium.

Here is a link I found a while back:
http://www.is.wayne.edu/mnissani/bruxnet/ploctran.htm

I have started a new magnesium thread on our Vitamin/mineral board
here. It gives links to foods high in magnesium for children, or the magnesium
cream made by Kirkman labs.

Some posters on the OBT forum at autism used the cream effectively for
children. Supplements are problematic for small kids...it is safer to use food
to obtain it.

This is a dosing chart for those interested:

OMG! This has been so helpful!!


Thanks everyone!

technically, (i don't like to mention it too much but it fits in our topic) i have cracked teeth from bitting down so hard. litterally broken some of my teeth (while awake!) from grinding them. i don't especially like talking about it cause i have dentures (over 16 teeth pulled) and just makes me feel ugly and what not. but i grind my teeth when angry, like in the middle of an arguement. i do it when doing physical labor, like carrying heavy stuff or rubbing my wifes back. and i do it when i'm nerveous and or scared. sometime i do it when i am in deep thought.

i play with my dentures and enjoy the pressure i recieve from intense bitting. i jiggle my teeth in my mouth. and i have (a long while ago) pulled my own teeth at times. i am not sure if the pulling my own teeth is in any way comparable to how some autistic's like cutting themselves? but the similarieties seem to be there inside my mind. i seem to associate how pain isn't that bad when i am apply it myself. that is how i pulled some of my own teeth. with out drugs or anything just a pair of plyers. oh i also use to gargle with garlic (and eat it, lots of it) to kill any infections after pulling/cracking my teeth. i would have to cut open any infections in my gums and garggle with garlic and put garlic on the cut so to get rid of the infection. it didn't really hurt all that much. but i think that may be the autistic side of desired pressures and pain as long as i am in control of the application of such pain/pressure? is this too much information? probably sorry to gross people out. but if anything i was just meaning to convey certain aspects of my teeth and i guess see if some of my observational theories of pressure/pain are correct by conversating with this board. seems i would like to pick up that book about different vitamin defficiencies for autistics and see if that may help with some of my "desires" / OCD sort of things.

i'll stop rambling now.

hi


hope you dont mind me popping in here as this is my first time posting on your forum

my son has Tourette Syndrome and my knowledge of autism is limited to what I have learned in my TS research and from some friends whose children are autistic

One of my son's most intense Tourette tics used to be tooth grinding and also snapping his teeth together really hard

Our physician recommended pantothenic acid (vitamin B5 ) and the improvement for my son was truly remarkable. I have since learned that B5 is generally recommended for bruxism, as is Royal Jelly, which is very rich in B vits, especially B5

anyways...dont know if that is at all relevant to the tooth stuff that you are discussing so forgive me if it isnt Just thought I would mention it in case it could be helpful

I have talked to his dentist twice-- his teeth dont even show signs of wear!

He's my first kid to not have any dental decay as a child. The 2 oldest had genetic disorders with their baby teeth where there was little to no enamel in some areas.

Aaron's teeth seem to be amazingly tough.

Im going to get him some stuff from Kirkman.

I had no idea that this could be a vitamin/mineral problem.

Hey moose-- dont be embarressed! I think we understand the reasons you might pull your teeth or wear dentures more than many out there would! (((hugs)))