Binky, paci, wubbanub: There鈥檚 no shortage of words to describe those soothing little suckers. But at some point, whether your youngster prefers a pacifier or a thumb, that self-soothing habit quickly turns from blissful to stressful for many parents. But are pacifiers or thumb-sucking really all that bad?
鈥淧arents are a little more worried about it than I am,鈥 says Dr. Kevin Donly, the president of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry.
Fingers or pacifiers don鈥檛 usually affect tooth development, he says, but they can affect tooth positioning. And there鈥檚 a lot of data out there on pacifier use and thumb-sucking, but it鈥檚 hard to draw a conclusion on how much of an effect those habits can have. That鈥檚 because youngsters use them differently. 鈥淎ll kids suck at a different power rate,鈥 Donly explains. One child might, say, use a pacifier more as a placeholder, while another might really use it with great force.
Donly says he doesn鈥檛 get concerned until kids reach age 5, thanks to baby teeth, which will fall out anyway, so their positioning is less concerning. But, he warns, once those front teeth are gone (likely after age 7), prolonged sucking can cause bigger issues in permanent teeth that are more difficult to correct.
And if you really want to encourage your little one to kick the habit, Donly says not to reach for anything spicy, like Tabasco, to put on your child鈥檚 thumb.
鈥淲hen you wake up in the morning, you rub your eyes,鈥 Donley says. 鈥淲hen you get that in your eyes, it really hurts like the devil. So we don鈥檛 encourage that.鈥
Still uncomfortable with how long that paci is lingering? Take heart, parents. 鈥淣inety-nine percent of kids stop by age 5,鈥 Donly says. Why? That鈥檚 when they usually start grade school, he says. 鈥淧eer pressure is a rough thing.鈥
Brush Up On the Basics
Your cherub might only have two teeth by 12 months, but that precious grin still needs proper TLC 鈥 including regular brushing twice a day, experts say. Here are a few tips from Donly to keep those little teeth healthy.
Start early: The AAPD recommends finding a 鈥渄ental home鈥 for your child by age 1. 鈥淧eople say, 鈥楰ids don鈥檛 have cavities that early.鈥 Exactly! You go in for immunizations to keep them from getting disease 鈥 so we want to see them before they have cavities,鈥 Donly says.
Stay involved: You might be surprised at how long you need to actively manage your child鈥檚 brushing. 鈥淚鈥檝e had parents come tell me their 3-year-olds can brush great, so they let them do it on their own on,鈥 Donly says. But your toddler probably doesn鈥檛 brush those teeth well at all. (Sorry, parents!) He recommends letting kids practice brushing their own teeth first, but that parents take over and brush thoroughly after, up until kids are age 5 or 6.听
Skip this: One thing Donly doesn鈥檛 recommend for kids? Flavored rinses and mouthwashes. 鈥淭hey are really effective, but we are worried they will swallow instead of
spit,鈥 he says.
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