Habit Breaking Appliances

It is normal for the children to have to unhealthy oral habits. Some of such habits include thumb sucking, nail biting, lip biting, tongue thrusting, mouth breathing etc. In order to control such routines, separate appliances are designed and manufactured. These appliances are known as habit breaking appliances. These appliances can either be of removable or fixed type.

The importance of these appliances can be estimated by the effect of the pernicious habits. If these habits are not controlled, they may lead to periodontal diseases, change in the shape of jaws & change in the teeth position.

The thumb- or finger-sucking habit seems to relax and comfort babies and toddlers too, and it’s perfectly natural. Although thumb sucking is typically harmless in babies and toddlers, once children’s adult teeth start coming in, this habit could lead to serious oral problems and, during school years, continued thumb sucking can lead to social issues and teasing for your child. Certain habits among the children can result in the improper growth of the teeth.

In most children, these habits stop on its own between the ages of two and four years. But if the practice persists after the permanent teeth have erupted, it can drastically change the growth patterns of the jaw, and can ruin the alignment of the teeth. It may be hard to believe that such a benign habit can actually move teeth and bone but there are number reasons why this occurs.

Thumb Sucking

The diagnosis of this condition is quite easy as the changes are very much noticeable. The associated thumb appears to be very much clean and reddened. The fingernails may also be short and chapped. The lips may also seem to be hyperactive.

If thumb sucking persists after the baby teeth have erupted, it can drastically change the growth patterns of the jaw and cause significant misalignment of the teeth.

If your child cannot seem to kick the habit on their own, there are habits breaking dental appliance that can keep your child from thumb sucking. Like many potentially harmful behavior patterns, thumb sucking can be a difficult habit to break. Through the years, parents have tried a variety of home remedies, such as having the child wear gloves, coating the digits with a bitter-tasting substance and even reasoning with their toddlers. Sometimes it works but in other cases, the allure of thumb sucking proves very difficult to control.

Tongue thrusting

Like thumb sucking, tongue thrusting is a normal behavioral pattern in young children. It’s actually part of the naturalb infantile swallowing pattern, which will normally change on its own, by the age of six, in most children.

Tongue thrusting, a common behavior, is the habit of placing the tongue in the wrong position during swallowing. The tongue can be placed either to the sides or too forward. A constant level of pressure is needed for swallowing. However, it involves pushing the tongue against the upper front teeth when speaking, swallowing or at rest and constant exposure to such a pressure can force the teeth and arches to go out of alignment. This habit is involuntary and it is relatively difficult to rectify.

Besides the pressure exerted while swallowing, nervous thrusting also pushes the tongue against the teeth while it is at rest.

If the pattern doesn’t change, however, it can lead to problems similar to those caused by thumb sucking like problems with tooth alignment and skeletal development.