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Babies are born with a reflex to naturally suck anything placed in their mouths. This behavior helps them cope with stress, hunger, and discomfort. There are usually no long-term ill-effects during early childhood. Usually, most children give-up the habit somewhere between 2-4 years of age. However, if thumb or finger sucking continues past this age, it can affect the normal growth of the jaws and teeth alignment.
How Can Thumb Sucking Affect My Child’s Teeth?
As the permanent teeth come in, sucking may cause serious dental problems and even changes in the shape of the face. When your child sucks pacifiers or their thumbs, the force can push the teeth to tip forward causing a couple of malocclusions, including:
✔ Anterior open bite – the front teeth don’t come together but the molars do
✔ Posterior crossbite – the front teeth overbite and the molars underbite, creating misalignment throughout the teeth that cross over around the canines
✔ Anterior excessive overjet – deep overbite where the top teeth significantly overhang the bottom teeth
✔ Overbite (buck teeth) – the front teeth may be pushed further forward than normal
✔ Open bite – the top and bottom teeth don’t meet. With teeth together you would expect top and bottom teeth to overlap a little bit. If there is a gap between them where the tongue could poke through, this could be an open bite
✔ Lisp – interferes with the correct formation of certain speech sounds, such as the pronunciation of “s” and “z”.
The sooner the habit is stopped, the better the chance that the bite will correct itself.
How Can I Help My Child Stop Thumb Sucking?
Nearly all children will have a sucking habit at some point, whether it be through thumb, finger, or pacifier use. The best time to break the habit is before you notice baby teeth falling out. Most children will outgrow this but if the habit persists beyond kindergarten, it may be time to intervene.
Children often suck their thumbs when feeling insecure or needing comfort. The best way to help your child to break away from the habit is to focus on correcting the cause of the anxiety and provide comfort to your child.
Here are some tips on how to stop thumb sucking:
• Establish a chart and reward system to track your child’s progress for quitting.
• Limit nagging as a child can become defensive.
• Mark progress on a calendar for each day or week a child does not suck their thumb or finger.
• Encourage and praise your child when they attempt to stop.
• Offer distractions such as toys on a car trip.
• Put a bandage over the thumb, mittens, gloves, or thumb guards during sleep.
Various orthodontic appliances may be considered if all of the above conservative measures prove unsuccessful after discussing this with your orthodontist. Your dentist or pediatrician may prescribe a bitter medication to coat the thumb or the use of a mouth appliance.
Remember to always use positive reinforcement to encourage your child. Criticism or nagging may cause more anxiety and perpetuate the problem. You might also want to try to engage your child and let him or her become part of the solution. It might end up being a family project.
Orthodontic Treatment Options
Some cases may require the use of a plate or spacers on the first phase of their treatment, setting up their mouth for growth in the future and ensuring no additional orthodontic issues are formed. The second treatment phase as a teen may require traditional metal or lingual braces to correct extensive bite and jaw alignment problems, as well as straightening crooked teeth.
If you are concerned about the effects of your child’s thumb sucking habit on their growing smile, the best thing you can do is schedule an appointment with your orthodontist for assessment. This is to properly assess their teeth and jaw to identify potential problems and develop a safe orthodontic treatment plan.
