Effects Of Thumb Sucking To Your Child’s Teeth

This article is published in a collaboration with Mediabuzzer.

Many of us think that a child sucking their thumb looks sweet, but it is a habit that could damage their teeth if not brought under control. To prevent potential damage from occurring, children must get out of this habit before their permanent teeth develop and come through. 

Below are some reasons this is something that you should be concerned about if your child is prone to sucking their thumb and the damage that this habit can cause.

It Can Cause Bite Issues

When your child sucks on their thumb, they will apply pressure to their teeth which can affect how they develop and form in the mouth. One consequence of sucking your thumb is that you can cause the top teeth to grow outwards slightly and create an overbite. Another one is that it can push the bottom teeth inwards to the back of the mouth. 

Continual sucking of the thumb can lead to an open bite where the teeth don’t meet adequately every time the mouth closes. If you have noticed anything like this with your children’s teeth, then you will want to take them to your local North Shore paediatric dentist and have them checked.

It Can Affect The Development Of The Jaw

Another significant effect that sucking on the thumb can have is how the jaw develops when the child is young. Sucking on a thumb when their adult teeth are starting to come through can affect how the teeth align in the mouth and may require braces to straighten them out when they get older. 

Even though your child may look cute sucking their thumb, the damage to their teeth could mean that you will have expensive dental bills when they get older to try and fix the damage caused.

It Can Affect Their Speech

You may not know it but sucking on their thumb can also influence how your child talks, and in some cases, it can also cause them to develop a lisp and other speech impediments. Some children will have trouble enunciating hard consonants such as the letters D and T, which directly results from them sucking their thumbs. 

If you can get your child to stop sucking their thumb as early as possible, you give them the best chance of avoiding issues with their speech and help them to develop naturally without any impediments.

It Can Cause Social Issues

When your child is old enough to go to school and start socialising with other children their age, sucking on their thumb can cause them social issues. You may find that other children will make fun of them because of it, and it can cause mental problems from a young age of not addressed correctly. 

Children will often suck their thumb due to boredom or stress, and you will need to find a way to stop this automatic response and give them another way of coping with their feelings and insecurities. If you want to give your child an excellent start in life, get them out of the habit of sucking their thumb.