{"id":693,"date":"2017-07-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-07-19T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/\/template2\/dental-care-blog\/effects-thumb-sucking-pacifiers\/"},"modified":"2017-07-19T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-07-19T00:00:00","slug":"effects-thumb-sucking-pacifiers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/dental-care-blog\/effects-thumb-sucking-pacifiers\/","title":{"rendered":"The Effects Of Thumb Sucking And Pacifiers"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/contentlibrary.socialmediafordentistry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/450\/2017\/07\/Pacifiers-and-Thumbsucking-2017_543.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"543\" height=\"543\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-981\" \/>  <strong>BEING A PARENT<\/strong>, though wonderfully rewarding, can also be stressful and full of uncertainties, especially when it\u2019s your first child and everything is new and overwhelming. Our practice might not be able to take away all of the uncertainties, but we can certainly help you out when it comes to pacifiers and thumb sucking and their effects on your child\u2019s dental health. <\/p>\n<h3><strong>Benefits of Thumb Sucking And Pacifiers<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p> According to the American Dental Association, it\u2019s a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.colgate.com\/en\/us\/oc\/oral-health\/life-stages\/childrens-oral-care\/article\/thumb-sucking-the-good-the-bad-and-the-normal-0514\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">natural reflex<\/a> for babies to suck on things. They find it comforting and soothing, which means that allowing thumb sucking or giving them a pacifier can help them feel happy and safe as they grow from infancy to toddlerhood. At this stage, are many benefits to pacifiers or thumb sucking, for the baby and for the parents: <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It helps your baby sleep (which also helps you sleep).<\/li>\n<li>It keeps your baby calmer when separated from you.<\/li>\n<li>Studies have shown that pacifiers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.babycenter.com\/0_pacifiers-pros-cons-and-smart-ways-to-use-them_128.bc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reduce the risk of SIDS<\/a> (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>When To Wean<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p> One of the main concerns parents often have about thumb sucking in particular is whether or not it will cause their adult teeth to grow in crooked. This certainly can be a problem, but not for toddlers. Most children will stop sucking their thumbs on their own by age four. If they don\u2019t stop on their own, this is when it becomes important to encourage them to stop.  If vigorous thumb sucking continues around when they start getting their permanent teeth, it can lead to changes in the palate that affect the permanent bite. Dental alignment and bite issues are less common with pacifiers because breaking that habit can be as simple as taking the pacifier away if they\u2019re still using them by age three.  For more information about weaning your child off of their pacifier, watch the video below:  <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"543\" height=\"305\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GXkxxp9hUPQ?rel=0&amp;end=68\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>  <\/p>\n<h3><strong>Thumb Sucking And Pacifier Don\u2019ts<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p> Because these sources of comfort don\u2019t cause damage until the adult teeth are coming in, it isn\u2019t necessary to attempt to break your child\u2019s habit before the age of four. Younger toddlers in particular aren\u2019t old enough to understand why parents want them to stop sucking their thumb or pacifier, so they\u2019ll only get upset.  When you do want to wean them off thumb sucking, be careful with topical aids that make the thumb taste unpleasant, because they can be <a href=\"http:\/\/www.parents.com\/toddlers-preschoolers\/development\/behavioral\/thumb-sucking\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ineffective or even harmful<\/a>. <\/p>\n<h3><strong>Weaning Strategies For Thumb Suckers<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p> Ideally, you&#8217;ll be able to wean your child off thumb sucking before they turn five, but if your child is close to age six and is still an avid thumb sucker, it\u2019s definitely time to get serious. Here are some safe strategies you can use: <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Praise them for successes rather than scolding them for continued thumb sucking.<\/li>\n<li>Use a rewards chart so they can see the goals they\u2019re working towards.<\/li>\n<li>Make sure they have plenty of activities to do with their hands, like arts and crafts.<\/li>\n<li>Put socks on their hands while they sleep so that they don\u2019t have access to their thumbs. You may need to tape the socks in place so they can\u2019t pull them off.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Bring Your Concerns To Us<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p> Don\u2019t hesitate to talk to us if you\u2019re worried about your child\u2019s pacifier use or thumb sucking habit. We can answer any other questions you may have and help you come up with a strategy to safeguard your child\u2019s healthy dental development. <\/p>\n<h4>Your child\u2019s oral health is our first priority!<\/h4>\n<h6>Top image by Flickr user <span style=\"color: #2a7abd;\"><a style=\"color: #2a7abd;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/futurestreet\/3785797472\" target=\"_blank\">futurestreet<\/a><\/span> used under <span style=\"color: #2a7abd;\"><a style=\"color: #2a7abd;\" href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\" target=\"_blank\">Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 4.0 license<\/a><\/span>. Image cropped and modified from original.<\/h6>\n<h6><span style=\"color: #d9d9d9;\">The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.<\/span><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong>BEING A PARENT<\/strong>, though wonderfully rewarding, can also be stressful and full of uncertainties, especially when&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":694,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[176,179,180,181],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-dental-posts","category-general-dental","category-pediatric","category-176","category-179","category-180","category-181","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=693"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mydentalpracticeblog.com\/graystonedental\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}