When Should my Child Stop the Pacifier Or sucking thheir thumb?

Ok, so I thought I would do something a little different for today's blog post. I get a lot of questions about when children should stop sucking their thumbs or pacifiers.

"What do I do if my child sucks their thumb?"

First don't get too worked up if they are still young! Thumb-sucking in infant and toddler children is extremely common and really should not be a cause for concern. Some doctors think that it is better to give the child a pacifier so that later a pacifier can be taken away more easily than a thumb :). As far as when to worry about thumb sucking or pacifiers, most children will stop the behavior on their own before it creates any orthodontic problems. Typically, most orthodontists, myself included, think it is best if children have given up the pacifier or thumb habit by the age of 4. Prolonged thumb sucking or pacifier use after the permanent teeth have started to erupt (age 5-6) can cause orthodontic and dental development problems.

An anterior open bite occurs when the front teeth do not overlap or touch when the child closes their back teeth together so you can look through the space and see the tongue, this may develop as result of the habit if it persists too long.

This patient had an Open bite-

Notice the back teeth touch but the front teeth do not overlap at all.

Also the sucking may cause a narrowing of the upper jaw and the upper back molar teeth to sit inside the lower back molar teeth. This is called a posterior cross bite and occures as a result of the pressure from the checks as the child sucks while the permanent teeth are coming in.

This patient had a Posterior Cross Bite-

Notice how the upper jaw is narrow and the upper teeth sit

inside the lower teeth.

A third situation that can arise is protuding front teeth. The teeth end up coming in in front of the thumb since it is in the way of their normal position. This means that they stick out too far, sometimes have spaces, and are in danger of being broken due to a fall or sports mishap.

This patient had protruding upper front permanent teeth from a thumb habit-

Patient was 7 years old.

Today's comments challenge:

Post your most creative name for a pacifier or a creative way that you talked your child out of the habit?

I will start: Binkie, Paci, Plug :)

Sheetrock and Tot Shots Soccer

Today was an exciting day at Woodall Orthodontics...sheet rock went up on the walls! After trying to imagine what walls would like like in different places we were finally able to see what they actually look like. The office is coming together, once they complete the sheet rock, trim will be added, paint will be applied to the walls, & the hardwood floors will be refinished while outside they finish adding the new roof, replace siding, and create the parking lot. Before we know it we'll be opening our doors to new patients!

The front desk before the sheet rock went up:

The front desk with sheet rock:

Our soon to be state-of-the art Treatment Bay before sheet rock:

Our soon to be state-of-the-art Treatment Bay after sheet rock:

The sight of progress is terrific, and we know it means we're that much closer to meeting our new patients!

If you are excited to get started as we are, call us at 770-459-1956 and we can discuss getting you set up for a consultation!

After stopping by the office to survey the progress we headed to the soccer fields for more of that Villa Rica Tot Shot soccer entertainment....

Woodall Orthodontics Made the Paper!!

During the flurry of activity that surrounded us as we began construction (just 2.5 weeks ago!) we were honored to host a ground breaking ceremony at the future home of Woodall Orthodontics. This was just the first of many new and exciting milestones we have to look forward to on our road to creating a state of the art orthodontic practice that will (soon) be an instrument in creating beautiful smiles across West Georgia. As decisions are made and walls are built we are anxiously awaiting the day that we'll be posting about our ribbon cutting ceremony and community wide open house. For now, we will continue to choose paint colors, chair layouts, and hi-tech gadgetry as we anticipate our October grand opening.

Soccer and Electricity!

Construction of the office remains at the same point. Electrical work is still going on so there are not really too many exciting pictures to post. No sparks or flames so that is a good thing.

Today's post is about Soccer!! My nephews, Hudson and Layton, play little league soccer in Villa Rica. We try to go to as many games as possible. The amount of energy these kids have is amazing! So fun!

It is amazing to watch these 3-4 year olds play soccer!

Here is Layton making his way down the field!!

And Hudson with full control over the ball moving down the field!

Here is Hudson during a rest break for him during the game. What a great nephew!! Although I think we might have a little orthodontic work to do in our future. :)

Last but not least, a meeting of the minds after the game to discuss strategy and social issues of the day... :)