The Effects of Thumbsucking
|
| • | Changes in Teeth Alignment: Having your thumb in your mouth and sucking can cause changes in your teeth alignment. The upper front teeth can be pushed causing an overbite or underbite to form. This can be exaggerated due to the simultaneous growth of the plates in your upper and lower jaw. |
| • | The Formation of a Lisp: Some children can develop a lisp from the changes that the child is causing through thumbsucking. |
| • | Roof Sensitivity: Children can increase sensitivity in the roof of their mouth due to causing changes or alterations in their mouth through thumbsucking. |
| • | Praise or Reward: Praise your child for finding a new way to soothe themselves without sucking their thumb, ie. I am so proud of you for falling asleep without sucking your thumb. Alternatively, a parent may offer a child a sticker if they can go to bed without sucking their thumb, maybe after so many stickers they can get a larger reward. |
| • | Explain: If your child is old enough to reason with, you can tell them the importance of growing their permanent teeth, and how we want to take care of them even before they come in, part of taking care of them is not to suck our thumb. |
| • | Show Compassion: If they fail today, try again tomorrow. One day of thumbsucking is not going to cause problems, it is continual thumbsucking that will, so if they fail today, just start over. |
We Look Forward To Meeting YouOur front office staff is happy to discuss our services with you. Our dentists are here to serve your children and teens. For more information, contact one of our multiple Seattle area offices. Marysville
919 State Ave #104 Marysville, WA 98270 Phone: (360) 659-8100 
Lake Stevens 9421 N Davies Road, Suite A, Lake Stevens, WA 98258 Phone: (425) 367-4149  Monroe
14090 Fryelands Blvd Suite 348, Monroe, WA 98272 Phone: (360) 863-8700 
Stanwood 7104 265th Street NW. #110 Stanwood, WA 98292 Phone: (360) 339-8000 
|
Babies are born with the instinct to suck, this is important for feeding, and it brings them considerable comfort to do so. Besides eating, babies use their mouths for a lot of exploratory information gathering, they inherently bring everything to their mouths, and many parents are happy to let them suck on their fingers. Allowing your baby to suck on their thumbs is ok, but the habit should be broken in their toddler years and definitely 