electric children 21
How it affects the bite
APRIL, 2018 | The HEALTH
electric children 21
123. RF
Baby bottle tooth decay
Thumb sucking and pacifier use in children
How it affects the bite
by NURUL AIN HUDA ABDULLAH ainhuda @ revonmedia. com
2013 DEAR DOCTOR. INC
A
S a parent, you may be concerned about your child’ s thumb sucking, finger sucking or the dependence on pacifier use.
Although it provides the child with a sense of security, relaxing them during difficult periods and inducing sleep, the habit may cause changes in the roof of the mouth, said Bala Dental Surgery dentist, Dr. Balasubramaniam R.
He explained that thumb sucking and sucking on pacifiers causes the teeth to proclinate outwards with a disarrangement of teeth as well as cause slight deformation of the bone which is arched out.
“ This of course depends on the degree of sucking, how long they have been doing it and how frequent,” he said.
The effect can be long term, Bala said, even after the baby tooth have dropped off, as it is the growing age where the maxilla( upper jaw) and the mandible( lower jaw) starts developing and growing.
“ If the habit persist past the age of three, it can cause bite problems to arise. Contrary to a normal bite where the upper teeth grows to overlap the lower teeth, thumb-suckers teeth don’ t overlap when a child bites together. This is referred to as an open bite, where there is an open space between the upper and lower teeth,” he said.
Nevertheless, children who rest their thumbs passively in the mouths are less likely to experience difficulty.
Breaking the habit
Bala advises parents to intervene after the child is three years old as the habit should have gradually lessened by this period as children spend more time exploring their surroundings.
“ Peer pressure can also cause children at the nursery to stop placing his fingers in the mouth,” he said.
For parents who are yet to find the solution, Bala advises them not to be forceful in their approach as this can cause more harm than good.
He recommends parents to offer praise when a child does not thumb suck. Instead of scolding the child, focus on the cause of insecurity and comfort the child and lastly when the child is separated from a family member – reward the child when he or she avoids thumb sucking.
If all fails, subtly remind your child to put a sock over the hand at night. This might slowly but gradually deter the child from thumb sucking.
TOOTH decay in infants and young children is often referred to as baby bottle tooth decay. It happens when infant’ s teeth comes in contact with liquids with natural sugars like milk, formula and fruit juices for a long time such as nap time or night time.
Children who suck on pacifiers frequently dipped in sugar or syrup are equally at risk.
“ When we are sleeping, the mouth becomes dry and the flow of the saliva decreases. Giving a child a sugary drink during this time is harmful because bacteria starts attacking the teeth. Bacteria in the mouth thrive on this sugar and make acids that attack the teeth. This causes caries; which is tooth decay,” said Bala Dental Surgery dentist, Dr Balasubramaniam R.
According to him, although baby bottle tooth decay typically happens in the upper front teeth, other teeth may also be affected.
“ This may cause a child to develop poor eating habits, speech problems, crooked teeth and damaged adult teeth,” he said.
Bala recommends that parents feed the child during the night, other than leaving them to suck on the bottle to sleep and once the child has finished, dilute the sugar with warm water.
He added that there will be less effect to the teeth if this is done. In addition, he suggests parents to:
• IMPLEMENT good oral hygiene at an early age such as wiping the baby’ s gums with a clean gauze pad after each feeding.
• USE a floride-free toothpaste when your child’ s first tooth comes in.
• CLEAN and massage gums in areas without teeth.
• START flossing once the baby teeth have come in.
• PRACTICE regular dental visits by the child’ s first birthday.
– Nurul Ain Huda Abdullah
Dr Balasubramaniam R at his clinic.