Are You Thumbing Your Mouth at Me?
Infants have a natural instinct to suck as a way of nourishing and soothing themselves. Often, this leads to a child sucking on his or her fingers, a blanket, a stuffed animal or thumb. Usually, this habit is given up by age four. If it continues it can be extremely detrimental to the development of the teeth and jaws, causing crooked teeth, an incorrect bite, speech problems and/or open-mouth breathing. This habit may also result in psychological trauma if it continues into school age, when other children tease.
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