What are Pit and Fissure Sealants?
What is Baby Bottle Tooth Decay?
Fluoride: How Much is Enough?
What can my child expect at his/her first visit in your office?
Why Are The Primary Teeth So Important?
Does my child need dental x-rays?
Why a good diet = healthy teeth?
Should I worry about thumb sucking?
What is Nitrous Oxide?
What is pediatric dentistry?
Why bring your child to a pediatric dentist?
When should you bring your child for his or her first visit?
What will take place at your child's dental visit?

Should I worry about thumb sucking?
Sucking is a natural reflex and infants and young children may use thumbs, fingers, pacifiers and other objects on which to suck. It may make them feel secure and happy or provide a sense of security at difficult periods. Since thumb sucking is relaxing, it may induce sleep.

Thumb sucking that persists beyond the eruption of the permanent teeth can cause problems with the proper growth of the mouth and tooth alignment. How intensely a child sucks on fingers or thumbs will determine whether or not dental problems may result. Children who rest their thumbs passively in their mouths are less likely to have difficulty than those who vigorously suck their thumbs.

Children should cease thumb sucking by the time their permanent front teeth are ready to erupt. Usually, children stop between the ages of two and four.

Pacifiers are no substitute for thumb sucking. They can affect the teeth essentially the same way as sucking fingers and thumbs. However, use of the pacifier can be controlled and modified more easily than the thumb or finger habit.