Certain oral habits in children, while initially normal, can eventually cause problems if your child does not outgrow the habit. Prolonged thumb sucking, finger sucking, and tongue thrusting can cause developmental problems to your child’s teeth or jaw, and this can lead to the need for expensive and uncomfortable orthodontic treatment later in life. Our Old Lyme, CT dentists can help!
Tongue thrust (also called reverse swallow) refers to a habit that both children and adults can exhibit, where the tongue moves too far forward or over to one side while swallowing, speaking, or at rest. Tongue thrust can cause speech development problems. In addition, the pressure placed on your child’s teeth each time he or she swallows incorrectly can cause teeth to grow out of alignment.
Happily, Westbrook Dental can fit your child with a habit correction appliance, which will help your child to break bad habits in a safe, comfortable way. This appliance is semi-permanently attached to your child’s teeth much in the same way that braces are attached. Over the next months of wear, the appliance will guide your child toward correct behavior patterns. In some cases, we may also recommend therapy exercises or speech therapy in conjunction with your child’s dental appliance.
To learn more about how to stop your child from tongue thrusting or finger sucking, schedule an appointment with one of our expert dentists by calling 860.399.7971 or clicking here.
Come experience Westbrook Dental! You will see that we offer quality dental care to patients in and around Westbrook, Madison, Guilford, Clinton, Old Lyme, Essex, Old Saybrook, Chester and Deep River, CT. We look forward to seeing you!
