An Overbite
Your child is almost certain to develop
an overbite, which is when the upper row of teeth juts out over the lower
layer of teeth. She may even develop Bugs Bunny teeth, where her front
two teeth jut out prominently.
Lisp
A poor alignment of teeth will almost
certainly lead to some speech disorders, and could lead to a lisp. Even
if she has braces later on in life, the habit of lisping might never go.
To test the extent of damage caused
by thumb sucking, a dental group studied around 400 babies in Iowa, United
Stated, until the age of four.
The researchers regularly questioned
the parents about their children's thumb sucking habits. After the age
of four, models were made of the children's teeth.
Needless to say, the teeth of those
kids who stopped sucking their thumb before they turned one, were in pretty
good shape. Damage to the teeth increased amongst approximately 6% of the
kids who stopped sucking their thumb by the age of 2. Crossbite and overbite
were more prevalent by 13 percent amongst those kids who stopped thumb
sucking between the ages of 2 and 3, and this figure increased
to 20 percent, in the group of kids who were still sucking their thumbs.
While most of this damage is caused
to the child's baby teeth, there is a chance that it will affect the permanent
teeth as well - especially if the child continues sucking her thumb after
the age of six.
Thus, this is one habit which is
best nipped in the bud.
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