Thumb-sucking or sucking on a pacifier often helps babies calm themselves and then fall asleep more easily. However, if children are allowed to suck on pacifiers or on their thumbs or fingers after their teeth have begun developing, major problems can arise. Aggressively or even not aggressively, sucking on thumbs can ruin the alignment of teeth and create a need for costly dental work in the future. Excessive sucking on a pacifier after the teeth have grown in can even lead to numerous middle-ear infections and sometimes require surgery to fix the issue.
If you have a preschool-age child or a child younger than that, you probably don’t need to worry about any lasting effects from using a pacifier or sucking their thumb. If your child begins to develop a speech problem, has dental issues, or even develops a callus on their thumb, then it is likely the time to think about helping your child to stop with either of these habit
Some long term effects of thumb sucking beyond the age of 5-6 years include:
- Teeth being pushed around, which might cause an overbite or an underbite to form
- A lisp being formed because constant thumb sucking can affect the jaw bone positioning
- Germs from your thumb and surrounding areas affecting your body
- The roof of the mouth becoming altered or more sensitive
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