Dentist Huntersville Should Your Child Stop Thumbsucking?
So many children struggle with thumbsucking, and they will often fall asleep sucking their thumbs or their fingers. This is a form of comfort, and it will often help your child to fall asleep quickly. Most commonly, children will stop thumbsucking when they are around 2 to 4 years of age, which is normally when they will lose their baby teeth and their permanent teeth will begin to grow in. During that time, it is so important to break this thumbsucking habit before permanent teeth grow in, which will prevent long-term issues in crooked teeth and disalignment of the mouth.
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Please keep reading and you will discover some valuable guidelines.
Much of the damage that could happen to your child’s teeth and mouth will depend upon how intensely they normally suck their thumb. If a child aggressively sucks his or her thumb, they could be more at risk for long-term damage and crookedness in their teeth than if they just gently suck their thumb. Any type of thumbsucking habit should be broken, although it may not be easy at first. You can start by rewarding your child for being good in the times when they do not suck their thumb. This is much better than scolding them for sucking their thumb since they will be rewarded for good behavior. You can also try to comfort your child if they normally turn to thumbsucking because of anxiety. Try to get to the root cause of your child’s anxiety that causes them to want to suck their thumb regularly.
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It is also a great idea to ask for your child help to break the habit. You can work together to stop the thumbsucking habit by putting socks on their hands at night or gently taping their fingers together so that they aren’t tempted to suck their thumb. This is something that they can decide with you so that you can both work to break the habit so that they don’t feel that they are being punished. As a last resort, you may also want to talk to your dentist to ask for their support to encourage your child to stop sucking their thumb. When you work to help your child give up thumbsucking, you can reduce their risk of crooked teeth and the potential need for braces in the future.
It is important to try to kick the thumbsucking habit at the time when your child’s permanent teeth are growing in. If your child does not stop the thumbsucking habit, they may have to have braces when they get older, which is a long-term and expensive treatment to fix crooked teeth. Many parents have no idea that long-term thumbsucking can cause such crookedness in the teeth, which is why it is essential to work with your child to stop this habit as quickly as possible to protect the appearance of their smile!