Cat making crunching/grinding sounds?

Out of the blue, a few days ago, my kitten started making weird noises with her mouth. She'll be sleeping and then when she gets up, she'll stretch and then make a grinding crunching noise which hurts MY teeth when I hear it. I looked at her gums, and they're pink and I poked her teeth (to make sure that it isn't a sound from a loose tooth). 

The kitten is about 4 months old and during the past few days, did lose two of her front canine baby teeth but the sound is still there. 

I was wondering if someone has had this problem as well?

Maybe you can try distracting her as soon as she wakes up and see if she would still make the same grinding sound? It's definately not okay for her to be grinding her teeth since over time the teeth will wear out from abrasion. Have you asked your vet about it? Or maybe if your kitten is still teething she feels like she needs to bite on something. I would try distracting her right before she starts grinding or give her a chew toy as soon as she wakes up before the grinding as well and see if the grinding becomes less

I know that in adult cats this is often a sign of indigestion or nausea.  Not sure about in kittens.  Has she been eating normally, using the box normally, and normal activity level?

I've 4 cats n 1 dog, all rescues. Oldest 14 y.o. youngest 2 - 2 y.o., all spayed n neutered, cats are indoor/contained garage, dog in/out. My youngest 2 y.o. female started recently grinding her teeth with her head facing forward, no pawing or rubbing just grinding.  She's eating very well, playing/sleeping eliminating ok. She actually will jump on my lap, give me that "closed eye" blink n then grind her teeth. I'll touch her belly and she rolls over n asks for belly rubs. She'll jump to the bathroom faucet, look at me grind her teeth and drink water from the faucet. Everything in her mouth has been ckd out by my vet, no dental cleaning needed or problems to report. My vet has no answer but she's a super healthy cat. So, maybe it's an attempt to get attention or??

I will soon start a new THREAD on FELINE HYPERESTHESIA aka "rippling skin syndrome " n "twitchy cat syndrome".