Thumb Sucking in Children: May Be a No-No for Good Dental Health
By Dr. David L. Rothman
Dear Doctor,
My 3-year old daughter seems to continually suck her thumb or fingers. Is this a problem and will it damage her teeth?
Sheryl
Dear Sheryl,
Sucking fingers or thumbs is completely normal for babies and young children. Babies actually begin to suck on their fingers or thumbs even before they are born. The behavior provides security for young babies. It’s a way to make contact with, test and learn about the world. Recent studies have shown that pacifier use after the age of 2 may cause long term changes in the mouth of children and therefore recommend that pacifier use should stop by 18 months*. Thumb and digit sucking tend to stop between 2 and 4 years of age without much intervention. However, some children repeatedly suck on a finger, thumb, pacifier or other objects over long periods of time. In these children, the upper front teeth may tip toward the lip or not come into position properly and the upper jaw may not develop correctly.
Make sure your child is seeing a general dentist or pediatric dentist (a dentist who has taken specialty training in children’s dentistry), who will carefully watch the way your child’s teeth and jaws develop, keeping the sucking habit in mind at all times. Your general or pediatric dentist can also offer creative strategies to cut back and stop pacifier use in gentle ways as well as offer positive reinforcement behavior management techniques for these habits.
Behavior modification starts with appropriate rewards given at predetermined intervals or steps for both thumb and pacifier habits to gradually eliminate them. Another idea you might try is tying the pacifiers (all of them) onto helium balloons and floating them into the sky. This makes a “special star” for the child so the tooth fairy can find him or her and put a present under the pillow as a reward for stopping. Perhaps another approach is dropping off the pacifiers at the dentist’s office so that they can be given to a “baby” who needs them. For most children the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommends encouraging these habits cease by age 3.
Some children may need the help of both their parents and their pediatric dentist. A pacifier habit is often easier to break than a finger or thumb. When your child is old enough to understand the possible results of a sucking habit, a pediatric dentist (or a general dentist trained in pediatric techniques), can encourage your child to stop, as well as talk about what happens to the teeth if your child doesn’t stop. This advice, along with support from parents, helps most children stop. If this approach doesn’t work a mouth appliance that blocks sucking habits may be recommended.
A final point: make sure that you are fully informed of the problem and solutions. This is probably normal behavior so don’t make it your child’s problem unnecessarily. If you are still worried visit your general dentist or a pediatric dentist to put your mind at rest.
For further information visit the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry at www.AAPD.org
* “Sucking Habits in Childhood and the Effects On The Primary Dentition: Findings of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood”: International Journal of Pediatric Dentistry, 2008; 18(3), 178-88.
David L. Rothman, DDS, received his bachelor’s degree from The State University of New York at Buffalo; D.D.S. from New York University College of Dentistry; general practice residency at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia; anesthesiology residency at the Medical College of Pennsylvania; pediatric dentistry residency at Children’s Hospital in Oakland and the University of California, San Francisco. He is director of the Pediatric Dentistry Residency program at UCSF and associate professor and chair of the Department of Pediatric Dentistry, University of the Pacific School of Dentistry. He is a board-certified pediatric dentist and has a full time private practice limited to pediatric dentistry. He has lectured and published extensively both nationally and internationally.
Source: Volume 2, Issue 4 of Dear Doctor – Dentistry & Oral Health.
Dear Doctor,
My 3-year old daughter seems to continually suck her thumb or fingers. Is this a problem and will it damage her teeth?
Sheryl
Dear Sheryl,
Sucking fingers or thumbs is completely normal for babies and young children. Babies actually begin to suck on their fingers or thumbs even before they are born. The behavior provides security for young babies. It’s a way to make contact with, test and learn about the world. Recent studies have shown that pacifier use after the age of 2 may cause long term changes in the mouth of children and therefore recommend that pacifier use should stop by 18 months*. Thumb and digit sucking tend to stop between 2 and 4 years of age without much intervention. However, some children repeatedly suck on a finger, thumb, pacifier or other objects over long periods of time. In these children, the upper front teeth may tip toward the lip or not come into position properly and the upper jaw may not develop correctly. Make sure your child is seeing a general dentist or pediatric dentist (a dentist who has taken specialty training in children’s dentistry), who will carefully watch the way your child’s teeth and jaws develop, keeping the sucking habit in mind at all times. Your general or pediatric dentist can also offer creative strategies to cut back and stop pacifier use in gentle ways as well as offer positive reinforcement behavior management techniques for these habits.
Behavior modification starts with appropriate rewards given at predetermined intervals or steps for both thumb and pacifier habits to gradually eliminate them. Another idea you might try is tying the pacifiers (all of them) onto helium balloons and floating them into the sky. This makes a “special star” for the child so the tooth fairy can find him or her and put a present under the pillow as a reward for stopping. Perhaps another approach is dropping off the pacifiers at the dentist’s office so that they can be given to a “baby” who needs them. For most children the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommends encouraging these habits cease by age 3.
Some children may need the help of both their parents and their pediatric dentist. A pacifier habit is often easier to break than a finger or thumb. When your child is old enough to understand the possible results of a sucking habit, a pediatric dentist (or a general dentist trained in pediatric techniques), can encourage your child to stop, as well as talk about what happens to the teeth if your child doesn’t stop. This advice, along with support from parents, helps most children stop. If this approach doesn’t work a mouth appliance that blocks sucking habits may be recommended.
A final point: make sure that you are fully informed of the problem and solutions. This is probably normal behavior so don’t make it your child’s problem unnecessarily. If you are still worried visit your general dentist or a pediatric dentist to put your mind at rest.
For further information visit the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry at www.AAPD.org
* “Sucking Habits in Childhood and the Effects On The Primary Dentition: Findings of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood”: International Journal of Pediatric Dentistry, 2008; 18(3), 178-88.
David L. Rothman, DDS, received his bachelor’s degree from The State University of New York at Buffalo; D.D.S. from New York University College of Dentistry; general practice residency at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia; anesthesiology residency at the Medical College of Pennsylvania; pediatric dentistry residency at Children’s Hospital in Oakland and the University of California, San Francisco. He is director of the Pediatric Dentistry Residency program at UCSF and associate professor and chair of the Department of Pediatric Dentistry, University of the Pacific School of Dentistry. He is a board-certified pediatric dentist and has a full time private practice limited to pediatric dentistry. He has lectured and published extensively both nationally and internationally.
Source: Volume 2, Issue 4 of Dear Doctor – Dentistry & Oral Health.
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