Need Advice on Dental Appliance for My 3 Year Old

My sister had a similar device when we were young. She was older then your child though at the time. Once she was able to kick the thumb sucking habit she had to have a retainer to then fix the roof of her mouth. It had formed to fit around her thumb from years of sucking. The retainer had a key that she turned to stretch her mouth back out to a normal healthy form. She said the pain after turning the key was horrible and would make her cry for the first few hours afterwards. Either do something radical now and save on time, money, and pain for your child. Or wait like my mom did and possibly have to go through so much more. I am sure if you asked my sister this question she would say do it NOW!

My 2.5 yr old has the same problem. His teeth are bucking out and his thumb keeps wearing down to the point it hurts and he cries a lot. The "Thum" stuff doesn't work anymore. Now I'm using Tobassco, Hot Sauce, etc. My brother even went to Wild Wings and got me some of that fire stuff. I paint/soak his thumbs (both) in it for a few minutes, then blow dry it. (Don't let them wipe it off!!!) Austin cries for about ten minutes, then gets over it. It's been about three weeks now and seems to be working. Good luck.

K.

I actually had one of these when I was younger. We called it an alligator. I don't remember having to wear it for that long but it definitely worked. My parents also tried the thumb liquid, socks on my hands, you name it they tried it. The "alligator" was the only thing that ever worked. And it worked permanently. I never went back to sucking my thumb.

S.:

I had this grill placed in my mouth when I was 3 or 4 years old. I don't remember it hurting or any discomfort. It permanently stopped my thumb-sucking, and it didn't leave any "psychological scars" for me ;-) This same pediatric dentist noticed that my permanent teeth were going to be large, so he pulled my four front teeth (top and bottom) to allow room for my baby teeth to spread and let the big teeth grow in. I think this dentist was ahead of his time. I have beautiful straight teeth and never wore braces. I would definitely do this for your daughter, so she won't have problems later in life.

Wow I didn't know they did stuff like that for little kids.

I think it sounds fine and I'd do it if I was in your shoes.

I've had all sorts of junk in my mouth, before I had braces, then I had braces, and then they're retainers. None of it is all that enjoyable but none of it was painful either. I think in the long run it's worth whatever you have to go through for a short amount of time.

S.,

My son was still sucking his thumb at age 7, we tried everything, nothing worked. Our dentist recommended this and it worked. He is now 21 and has wonderful teeth. It really was not as horrible as it sounds.

L.

S.-

I am a Registered Dental Hygienist and my focus is on periodontal health and oral health education, but the dentist that I work under is extremely proactive in cases like this. I work for a general practice but start seeing children as young as 3. We had the opportunity to attend a 2 weekend CE course on first phase orthodontics and there was a case study very similar to your situation. It was sad to see but the good news is that it's correctable. The little girl sucked on 2 fingers for as long as her mother could remember, I believe she was 2 or 3 years old. This child had the urge to suck on her fingers so much that she developed a horrible rash around the skin above and below her lips. The unfortunate side of this story is that the mother only could afford to help one of her girls out with ortho and dismissed her younger childs needs. Her child without intervention could suffer severe cosmetic malformations of the face, jaw pain (TMJ issues), breathing issues, and or speech problems.

So in my opinion, it sounds harsh and extreme but all you can do is try what your pedodontist is recommending and if it doesn't work you can always look for a proactive orthodontist to help correct any pallatal deformations later. But being a mother of a two year old I would go for the thumb crib first to eliminate future malformation. Being proactive now will keep cost down for the future.

It seems mid-evil but a dentist only recommends this in extreme cases, so if you're comfortable with your provider I would hed his advice. If you aren't comfortable you could always seek another opinion. Don't feel silly about it, people do it all the time in dentistry.

I hope this helps make your decision easier.

Sincerely and good luck,
J.

Hi S.! This is going to sound funny, but when I was a young girl I too, was a finger sucker. (Pointer on my left hand) My parents tried a few things, but what actually worked was safety pins and a tube sock. They'd have me wear a short sleeve shirt and put the tube sock over my left hand/arm. They'd use about 12 safety pins to secure it in place. I tried to get the pins out, but grew frustrated and fell asleep w/out the use of my finger. It didn't take too long...

Good luck!!
J.