{"id":32350,"date":"2019-11-18T20:53:15","date_gmt":"2019-11-18T20:53:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/growingsmiles.co.uk\/?p=32350"},"modified":"2021-04-26T15:18:27","modified_gmt":"2021-04-26T14:18:27","slug":"the-problems-with-sucking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/growingsmiles.co.uk\/the-problems-with-sucking\/","title":{"rendered":"The Problems with Sucking"},"content":{"rendered":"

Guest blog from multi award winning Jo Bates, the mastermind behind Thumbsie. <\/h4>
\"\"




The Thumbsie\u00ae is a gentle and effective way of giving up thumb or finger sucking. <\/figcaption><\/figure>

Sucking is a natural source of comfort for children; sucking\non thumbs, fingers and dummies makes babies and young children feel secure and\nhappy.  Children\noften suck their thumb or finger right from birth and there are even images of babies\nsucking digits in the womb \u2013 perhaps your child is one of those.  The habit is most often displayed when\nchildren are bored, tired or anxious as sucking brings comfort, reassurance and relaxation.  <\/p>

Most children stop sucking by the time they are 4 or 5 years of\nage, and this normally happens quite naturally without too much\nencouragement.  However, sucking either a\ndigit or a dummy in children older than this, as every dentist knows, can have\na detrimental effect on the development of children\u2019s teeth and mouth.  <\/p>

\"\"

The Thumbsie\u00ae is a gentle and effective way of giving up sucking which reinforces positive behaviour.<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Thumb or\nfinger sucking<\/a> can be a very difficult habit to break, no matter how much the\nchild wants to give up.  Giving up\nsucking a dummy is considered easier as it can be exchanged for a reward and\nphysically simply removed so that they can\u2019t use it again.  Facilities like the Growing Smiles Dummy Tree<\/a> also\noffer support to help to give that dummy away. \nSucking a finger or thumb can cause more problems than a dummy as you\ncan\u2019t remove the digit!  The habit is one\nthat can cause lifelong dental problems, which may only be solved through\northodontic or surgical treatment.<\/p>


\nWhen thumb or finger sucking starts (normally from birth) a baby\u2019s bones are\nvery soft and still forming, so this means that if the soft palate is\nconstantly pushed upward by the thumb or finger it malforms.  Alarmingly, if continued for a long time, the\nhabit can also change the growth of the face and it can cause the collapse of\nthe upper jaw. It stops the teeth from biting together at the front, this can\nthen lead to other problems, most commonly the upper front teeth being\nprominent, which in turn affects speech and the bite of the teeth.  It is more difficult to\ncorrect malocclusion (irregular contact of upper and lower\njaw) caused by thumb sucking.<\/p>

By the time a child starts school,\nthumb or finger sucking may also cause social anxiety and embarrassment, and a\nfear of being thought of as \u2018babyish\u2019 by older children.  Children who suck their fingers or thumb in\nclass often lose concentration and \u2018zone out\u2019; they stop when reminded by\nstaff, but the cycle normally quickly repeats itself.<\/p>

Thumb and finger sucking inevitably means that a child is constantly putting potentially dirty digits into their mouth.  While some may argue that exposing a child to germs improves their immune system, thumb and finger sucking increases the risk of ingesting harmful bacteria. <\/p>

\"\"<\/figure>

Problems\ncaused by thumb sucking<\/a>:<\/p>