top of page

Autism and teeth clenching (bruxism)

3 min read

Believe it or not, teeth clenching and grinding (bruxism) is a common autistic behavior. 


According to an article shared in a dental journal...


"The most frequent oral findings among autistic patients are bruxism (teeth clenching or grinding), self-inflicted oral lesions, and malocclusions." 


When I first discovered this my mind was completely blown. Especially the part about self-inflicted oral lesions (I chew the insides of my mouth and cheeks constantly and have done it all my life  ) 


Of course, teeth clenching and the rest can be due to other things... this post is just saying that they are extremely common in autistic individuals.  


Research link: 


https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3476085/ 

bottom of page