Bear Creek Dental in Grande Prairie is a family dentistry office and we’re happy to guide parents caring for their children’s oral health. Many parents of young children notice their children sucking their thumbs or give them pacifiers and wonder whether this is having an impact on their oral health. The answer depends largely on how close the child is to getting permanent teeth.
Babies’ skeletons are not fully fused together and their faces are more flexible than those of adults. Thumb sucking by children four and under is unlikely to have a permanent effect on their mouth structures. But baby teeth usually start falling out when a child is around five, and continued thumb (or pacifier) sucking as permanent teeth come in could result in an overbite or in misaligned jaws.
It is advisable to try to include the child in creating strategies to break their bad habits because using coercive measures may not address the underlying problem. Common though thumb sucking is, it sometimes results from stress. Children who feel a need to self-soothe often replace thumb sucking with pushing their tongues against their front teeth, which also causes overbites. Though corrective orthodontic devices are available, it may be necessary to consult a child psychologist.
Bear Creek Dental is located at Unit 201 10015 102 Ave, Grande Prairie, Alberta, T8v 0z8, Canada. To schedule an appointment, call 780-539-0404 or visit BearCreekDental.CA.
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