Sucking on Dummies, Sucking on Thumbs: Is It Dangerous for Your Child's Developing Teeth?

Americans call them pacifiers, whereas in Australia, they're known as dummies. The Americans probably have given the device a more accurate name, since it certainly helps to pacify a child. But what can pacify in the short-term has the potential to have ongoing repercussions in terms of your child's dental health. This is also the case when it comes to thumb-sucking. Is it really all that bad for your child's developing teeth?

A Hard Habit to Kick 

The soothing nature of sucking on a dummy or a thumb is a habit that children will ideally drop of their own accord, without you needing to intervene and without any complications to their teeth. You'll find that very young children will voluntarily give up thumb-sucking and will refuse a pacifier while they're teething, due to the discomfort of any additional pressure on their gums. But once the teething process has passed, many children might jump straight back into the habit. Just how long the habit lasts is a major factor in whether or not the habit becomes harmful.

Development of Your Child's Teeth

If your child relies upon a dummy or sucking on their thumb for more than three years, the development of their teeth can be adversely affected. The constant pressure of a foreign object in a mouth with developing teeth can cause these teeth to develop irregularly. The teeth might not erupt at the desired angle, resulting in an underbite or an overbite, which is essentially a misalignment of your child's bite. Such a dental problem can be corrected with orthodontics, but the ideal scenario is to avoid this necessity altogether.

What Parents Can Do

As a parent, you can effectively ration your child's use of a dummy, even though this is often easier said than done. Of course, you will find it more difficult to limit a child's ability to suck on their thumb, but it's certainly possible to discourage this habit. Naturally, if you're concerned that sucking on a dummy or thumb is potentially hampering the development of your child's teeth, you should schedule an appointment with your dentist, without waiting for your child's regularly scheduled annual or biannual appointment.

A young child who seeks short-term comfort from a dummy or from sucking on their thumb is unlikely to be endangering their own teeth, and yet, when it becomes an ongoing habit, you need to be aware of how the development of your child's teeth can be affected by this seemingly innocent act.