November 3, 2000 - Friday
Now that Harry has exposed teeth on the top and bottom of his mouth - his top right, front tooth isn't very long yet, but clearly visible through the gum - he has taken to the disconcerting habit of grinding them together. The noise isn't all that subtle either, and his mother finds it particularly grating. Like most other new discoveries for Harry, he acts on it at odd times without routine, and whenever the fancy strikes him. And, it seems the best we can do is distract him and hope that he'll tire of it soon. Every time I hear his grinding I think to myself that we have 6-8 years of a trial run to instill good dental hygiene habits before he looses these baby teeth and his permanent adult teeth come in. However, I'm not sure there's much to be gained at this point to stop the grinding. He's too young to have any idea what we'd be criticizing and he's got to be able to discover his world in his own way. Maybe that's what baby teeth are from in the first place.


Comments, opinions?