Give Me Your Opinion on the Effect of Thumbsucking on Teeth for a 2 1/2 Yr Old

Look at it this way...the longer you let her suck her thumb...the harder it will be to get her to stop. And take it from a former thumb sucker...it wreaked havoc on my teeth...and I had to have braces for a long time to get them straightened out. As for how to get her to stop without too much stress...I'm at a loss...the glove idea sounds good...or perhaps another small stuffed animal to occupy her other hand. Whatever you decide...good luck :-)

I just took my 4 year old to the dentist and the first thing they said was "did he have a thumb habit?" Ugh! They said it not only messes with the teeth but actually the arch in the mouth. He will be, according to the dentist, an orthodontist's retirement plan. I've limited thumb sucking to his room only, but have no idea how to stop it beyond that. Good luck!

I not only work for a general practice dentist but my daughter visits the ped. dentist down the hall. He recommends all oral habits be done by the age of 4. My daughter was a thumb sucker and per his suggestion we had a appliance/retianer placed in her mouth that wouldn't allow her to suck her thumb. We talked about it a lot with her before hand so she was prepared and she did great! It also worked as a paletal expander due to the damage that had already been done to the roof of her mouth. We would turn a key in the roof of her mouth once a week to gradually expand her narrowing palete. I would ask her if it hurt and she would say no its just a little tight. She had a little trouble the first 2 nights but we had been to build a bear the day it was placed and she would squeeze her new dog spot and that helped her. After about 30 days he removed the thumb sucking part and just left the expander in for about 6 or 8 months. I think as a 2 year old I would let her know that someday she will have to stop but I wouldn't put pressure on her now. If the dentist notes that there is already damage than know there are things that can be done early to reverse. My daughter is 8 and she looks great no bunny teeth now and she is not a nervous person. Also my husband sucked his thumb way to long and has no damage to his mouth so each case is different. So maybe each time you go to the dentist you could ask him if she is doing any visible damage and if not then just wait til she stops on own. But I am not the dentist so you should do what he and you think is best. sorry so long. Good Luck!

I worked for a pediatric dentist for 12 years. Thumb sucking does lead to problems. The upper jaw molds itself around the thumb because it's always in her mouth. Therefore the upper jaw will be too narrow and she won't have enough room for all of her teeth, her upper and lower jaws will not fit together quite right (her front teeth won't touch, there will be a big gap), she could have buck teeth and a lisp. They make appliances that can be put in to keep the tongue busy so she doesn't suck her thumb. They also have ones that won't allow the thumb to go in her mouth. Listen to your dentist, he is trying to save you from having lots of problems down the road.

I wouldn't worry too much about it at this age...the dentist is going to go apes**t on you but really its not that big of a deal. My oldest sucked her thumb until she was almost 6 1/2. The dentist at the time told me that it would become a problem when her baby teeth fell out because it could start to affect the way her adult teeth grow in. Luky for us we were out of the "phase" before then. She is 8 now with absolutely no problems.

I understand how frustrated it is for you, but the more you stress about it and point it out to her, the more she is going to cling to it. If she's sucking throughout the day, try to redirect her attention and her hands when you see it. I think she may be a little young for it, but what finally worked for my daughter was a special nail polish called "bite it" (it had a circle around the words with a line through it as if to say don't bite it). It was the most horrible tasting stuff I've ever tasted...and it didn't wash off with water or saliva or polish remover. It basically had to wear off. I just don't think your daughter would understand enough to be "ok" with it though. My daughter was ready to stop sucking so she was a willing participant and understood that it was a good thing that her thumb tasted gross and she actually would tell me when it started to wear off so I could apply more.

Hi C.,
My understanding is that it's not so much a problem with the baby teeth, it's when those fall out and the permanent teeth start to come in. Our DS is a thumbsucker and began to notice around age 4 that his teeth (the two front bottom, especially) had changed - the space between his two bottom teeth was becoming more pronounced and the teeth were turning slightly.
Luckily DD isn't a thumbsucker (as of yet anyway) but if I had it to do over again, I would start encouraging not to suck at about that age to prevent the baby teeth from moving and also make it easier for them not having to stop when the permananent teeth begin to come in. Just my experience. Hope it helps! Good Luck!

A friend of mine told me this story from her dentist. It helped my husband and I make our decision.

Her dentist had 2 children... apparently both thumb suckers. The oldest child was forced to quit sucking his thumb and he turned into a nervous, anxious child and later adult. With their 2nd, they decided they'd rather just pay for braces... and that child grew up more well adjusted. He told her that all children will quit sucking their thumb eventually.

I don't know how much of that would have been those kids' personalities anyway, but we've decided we'd rather pay for braces down the road than watch our child become stressed and anxious. We do limit her thumb sucking to sleep though, and have noticed that she's slowly but surely reducing the amount of thumb sucking.

First of all no it is not a myth. My 2 1/2 year has visible damage from sucking his finger. His upper palate and tooth alignment at all out of wack and we likewise are having problems getting him to stop.

is a pacifier any better for tooth/mouth development? i'm just wondering if it's a good alternative or not? the nice thing about a paci is that you can take it away... you can't exactly throw a thumb in the trash or give it to the paci-fairy....

Who knows raelly? I sucked my thumb until I was 6 or 7, then I quit when I was ready. My parents tried to make me stop with just about everything and nothing worked. I didn't need braces and only have a slight overbite, the dentist said my teeth probably were like that already, and it wasn't large enough to need braces or a retainer. My brother sucked his thumb until he was 10, he needed braces, coincidence or not, who knows? My parents made him sleep with boxing gloves on to get him to stop, they said they tried all the other "regular" remedies first. Not sure if this helps, but good luck. Either way she will be fine in the end.

I'm not sure about how I feel about it. My oldest daughter had a pacifier until she was nearly 4. My husband told her that it wasn't good for her teeth, and she quit. I guess I wasn't as worried about it as I should have been (or could have been) because I know she's going to need braces.

My sister sucked her thumb for YEARS and needed braces too.

There is stuff you can put on her thumb that tastes bad to try to keep her from sucking her thumb (I think it's called "thumb", or at least that's what my mother called it).

Did you mention to the doctor that you read that that was a myth? Did the dentist address your concerns about it well enough?

Just a few thoughts....for what it's worth...and good lucK!

I'd say if a dentist tells you that she needs to stop sucking her thumb, I'd listen to him/her rather than question it. No matter what, we have to remember they're the experts, not us. On a different note, I think it's a great idea to make her stop now anyway because it's simply a bad habit. I never let my kids start just because of that. My neighbor has a kindergartener that still sucks her thumb most of the time and I feel bad for her because when my daughter was in kindergarten there was a thumb sucker in her class and she told me that some of the "mean girls" made fun of her because of it. I try to keep bad habits out of my kids routine just to save them trouble later. As soon as I noticed thumbs going into their mouths when they were young I pulled it out immediately and said "get your thumb out of your mouth" Once you are consistent in preventing a behavior, the child will learn to stop doing it.

I am now 30 years old and I sucked my thumb till I was 12. My teeth are perfectly fine and my mom tried all sorts of things to make me stop. I stopped when I was ready. Now I have a two year old daughter who also sucks her thumb. Our Dr. told us to keep an eye on her teeth, but that she will eventually grow out of it, and to make a big deal of it.

I read the advice other moms have given you. Thumbsucking, I have heard from the pediatrician and orthodontist, can hinder speech and teeth. I am not a big fan of forcing a child to stop sucking his/her thumb. You could limit where but you can't take away her thumb. Most kids end up in braces today. I would definetely get other professional opinions. I went to 3 different orthos who all had different opinions. She is still young. I'm sure there is a workable solution that won't traumatize her emotionally or physically. Good luck

Our son, who is three, fell last summer and busted one of his front teeth back. The pediatric dentist told us that, because he was a thumb sucker, it would help pull the tooth back in place, and it did.
There's really nothing you can do - it is a comfort method they have when they're tired or stressed. You can't take it away, and most methods to deter it don't work. In the past year, our son has really cut back on how much he sucks his thumb. He's naturally weaning himself with age.
We asked our pediatrician/pediatric dentist, and both agreed. It's more of a nuisance for us, but there's not much we can do to prevent it at this age.

My pediatric dentist told me that thumb-sucking wasn't doing any harm. My son was 5 or 6 when he stopped sucking his thumb and he is now almost 18. He is the ONLY one of his friends who hasn't had braces. My daughter is 13 and stopped sucking her thumb around the same age. It's possible that she's going to need braces but it's not due to thumb-sucking. She has one tooth that has come in a little crooked. My dentist said it's going to be up to us whether she gets them or not because it's so minute. I guess I'm making two points here...I think it's okay for them to suck their thumb until their permanent teeth come in...our dentist told us that. My other point is to be careful about the braces situation. I think it's almost become a trend. I think it's odd that my son is the only one of his friends who was spared and several of my daughter's friends have braces or are talking about getting them in the near future. Good luck with your decision. I hope it was helpful. :)

Hi C. I am one who sucked my thumb until I was 10or 12 only at night. Mother tried different things to make me quit but none of them worked and I guess I just quit at some point in time.
I speak perfectly and my teeth are just fine. Of course I am a grandmother now and everything is done different than when I grew up. Sometimes the stress on a child can be so great that it affects them mentally.
I have found that doctors do not always know best. Good luck

Hi C. :)

I sucked my thumb for YEARS...like until I was 13. My teeth are perfectly straight and I do not have an overbite. So, maybe the affects of thumb sucking are different for each individual. To quit, I had to wear a dirty sock on my hand :) No worries, though, C.!