scofieldII
Member
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2008
- Messages
- 121
Thumbsucking, in an adult or prolonged sucking in children, is usually and simply a manifestation of habit, as opposed to a mental problem or the like. According to the voluminous data many adults engage in this behavior as a reaction to stimulus in their environment such as sleep, reading, watching television and, yes, stress. They've learned to respond to this stimulus by sucking their thumb, a pattern started, typically during infancy, or even prior to birth. The reason why its popularity isn't well known is due to social pressures to keep the behavior stealthy since it's often inaccurately associated with immaturity.
For most people its something habitual. An ailment to things like stress, hunger, pleasure, sleep etc.. This helps relieve psychological issues..
Why Worry About It?
Thumb or finger sucking habits can and do cause tooth misalignment or jaw deformation.The degree of disruption depends on several factors: like how hard the child sucks, how often, and to what age. The problems produced by these habits are: Protrusive upper front teeth. This can be a simple tooth position problem, where the upper incisor teeth were simply tipped outward. Occasionally the formation of the upper jaw can be effected, and the upper jaw and teeth will warp out and away from the rest of the face. Tipped back lower incisors. Commonly found with thumb sucking: the pressure of the thumb forces the lower incisors backward toward the tongue. This exaggerates the protrusion of the upper incisors - making the face even more distorted. Distortion of nasal growth. In a long term or severe situation, the nose will appear to be tipped up. When viewing the child from the front, you can see right up the nose since it is tipped up at a severe angle by the constant pressure of the thumb on the under side of the nose. These distortions of the upper jaw and nasal complex are very difficult to reverse without long term orthodontic intervention. Open bite. The upper and lower front teeth do not overlap when the back teeth are together. The shape of the opening between the upper and lower front teeth may match the shape of the child's finger or thumb. This obviously interferes with the child's ability to bite into food, and will cause problems with digestion. Cross bite. The formation of the upper jaw is too narrow for the lower jaw. This distortion seems to be due to the flexing of the cheek muscles during sucking. Severe bite problems occur from these prolonged forces and must be treated before completion of growth.
what can be done to stop this?
For most people its something habitual. An ailment to things like stress, hunger, pleasure, sleep etc.. This helps relieve psychological issues..
Why Worry About It?
Thumb or finger sucking habits can and do cause tooth misalignment or jaw deformation.The degree of disruption depends on several factors: like how hard the child sucks, how often, and to what age. The problems produced by these habits are: Protrusive upper front teeth. This can be a simple tooth position problem, where the upper incisor teeth were simply tipped outward. Occasionally the formation of the upper jaw can be effected, and the upper jaw and teeth will warp out and away from the rest of the face. Tipped back lower incisors. Commonly found with thumb sucking: the pressure of the thumb forces the lower incisors backward toward the tongue. This exaggerates the protrusion of the upper incisors - making the face even more distorted. Distortion of nasal growth. In a long term or severe situation, the nose will appear to be tipped up. When viewing the child from the front, you can see right up the nose since it is tipped up at a severe angle by the constant pressure of the thumb on the under side of the nose. These distortions of the upper jaw and nasal complex are very difficult to reverse without long term orthodontic intervention. Open bite. The upper and lower front teeth do not overlap when the back teeth are together. The shape of the opening between the upper and lower front teeth may match the shape of the child's finger or thumb. This obviously interferes with the child's ability to bite into food, and will cause problems with digestion. Cross bite. The formation of the upper jaw is too narrow for the lower jaw. This distortion seems to be due to the flexing of the cheek muscles during sucking. Severe bite problems occur from these prolonged forces and must be treated before completion of growth.
what can be done to stop this?
