Thumb Sucking
Thumb sucking is a subconscious primate behavior that involves putting ones thumb or fingers inside the mouth and rhythmically moving the thumb or fingers back and forth across the tongue and hard palate. Babies are known to do this in the womb and primates like monkeys do it as well. The biggest risk is that the thumb sucking can cause an abnormality in the shape of the upper palate and in the resultant bite of the teeth. For this reason, it is not recommended to have your baby suck his or her thumb or fingers, especially after the age of three.
Typical Causes:
The causes of thumb sucking are purely subconscious. It is purely an automatic phenomenon in some children. It is not clear which children will suck their thumb or fingers although children not offered a pacifier are more likely to find their thumb and use it to pacify themselves. The advantages of a pacifier are that it can be taken away at a certain age with a reasonable risk that the child will not begin thumb sucking after that.
Symptoms of Thumb Sucking:
Thumb sucking is an obvious behavior that can be observed by just about anyone. It can cause elongation of the upper jaw and an overbite or overjet. The teeth can be obviously deformed, especially the baby teeth, due to pressure of the teeth with the fingers or thumb. The growth and position of these teeth, especially the incisors, can be affected.
Complications:
Complications of thumb sucking grow out of the symptoms of the condition. These include changes in the shape of the palate, an overjet, which is a pushing forth or back of the incisors, an overbite, which is when the front teeth are considerably further forward than the bottom teeth or other dental bite problems. These are not as big of a problem when the baby teeth are involved but become a big problem when the adult teeth begin to come in. The thumb sucking should definitely stop when the adult incisors come in. If the palate has grown abnormally, stopping thumb sucking when the adult teeth are coming in won’t make any difference and there will be bite problems.
Prevention:
In order to prevent thumb sucking altogether, you may need to use an orthodontic pacifier beginning when the baby is born. This usually averts the use of the thumb or fingers and focuses the baby on using the orthodontic pacifier instead. When the baby reaches 1-2 years of age, you can take away the pacifier, fairly certain that the child won’t begin thumb sucking. It is an automatic behavior but not one they pick up at 1-2 years of age after a lifetime of using the pacifier. You can also stop the behavior when the child is very young so it doesn’t continue throughout their baby and toddler years.
Treatment Options:
Most cases of thumb sucking resolve on their own, so that you don’t have to do anything. If your child stops thumb sucking by the age of 3 years, most likely there will be no problem. Other treatments include trying to break the habit of the child. You can praise the child for not sucking their thumb. You can provide positive motivation for stopping, such as a treat or toy if they stop sucking their thumb. It is not a good idea to punish the child for sucking their thumb because this only makes the whole experience negative for everyone.
If the thumb sucking has already caused problems with the palate or if you need an orthodontist’s help, the orthodontist will place a fixed palatal crib onto the upper teeth. It is a semicircular wire device that fits behind the front teeth and on the roof of the mouth. Bands are also attached to the molars. This prevents thumb sucking almost immediately.