How Thumb Sucking Can Affect Your Child's Oral Health
Thumb-sucking is a very normal habit for young children to help them self-soothe. While this habit should gradually fade as your child ages, some children continue the habit for too long. Read on to learn why long-term thumb-sucking can be a problem and how a pediatric dentist can help your child correct the issue.
Why Is Thumb Sucking a Problem if It Continues Too Long?
When children suck their thumbs, it's easier for bacteria and viruses to spread in the oral cavity. Also, believe it or not, thumb sucking can actually change the shape of your child's bite and affect their jaw development. Children who still suck their thumbs after their toddler years can develop the following:
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Overbites
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Crossbites
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Impacted or crowded teeth
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Narrowed palate and jaw arches
Your child may need orthodontic treatment later on to correct these types of issues.
Thumb sucking can also encourage tongue thrusting. Tongue thrusting, or immature swallowing, is a dysfunctional muscle pattern where the tongue protrudes forward when your child swallows instead of against the palate. Thumb sucking can perpetuate tongue thrusting since children with narrower arches and overbites may have a harder time swallowing normally when eating or talking. Tongue thrusting can then lead to problems like teeth grinding, sleep apnea, and nasal blockages.
How Can a Pediatric Dentist Help?
Pediatric dental specialists understand which oral health issues are specific to children and how to fix them. Your dentist can examine your child's jaws and bite to see if the thumb sucking habit is detrimental. If your dentist catches the issue early, they may prescribe an orthodontic appliance, like a palatal crib.
Palatal cribs are similar in appearance to retainers. Instead of having an acrylic piece that rests against the palate, these appliances have curled wires that are cemented behind the incisors. When your child goes to suck his or thumb, they won't be able to because the wires on the crib will make it impossible to do so.
If your child's face shape has already changed due to thumb sucking, your dentist may recommend space maintainers or expanders. Space maintainers are appliances that prevent teeth from crowding and save space for incoming adult teeth. Expanders can widen the palate so your child can avoid tongue thrusting.
What Can You Do as a Parent?
If your dentist doesn't think a palatal crib would work, then you may want to get deterrent medications that can be safely placed on your child's fingernails.
If you haven't already, start weaning your child off of pacifiers as the puckering motion that affects children's jaws and teeth is similar to thumb sucking. You may want to set up a reward system, like a sticker chart, to help your child break his or her thumb sucking habit.
For more information about how thumb sucking may affect your child's oral health, talk to pediatric dental specialists in your area.