Dental News - Study finds thumb-sucking habits not linked to malocclusion

Dental Tribune International

Mon. 27. April 2015

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ÖREBRO, Sweden: Parents often fear that thumb-sucking could leave their children with severe tooth displacements that would require comprehensive orthodontic treatment later in life. However, new findings from the Örebro University in Sweden suggest that the common childhood habit might not be as harmful to the dentition as previously reported.

The study determined the prevalence, self-correction and new development of malocclusion, as well as the possible influences of breathing disturbances, allergies and thumb-sucking habits on the condition. The researchers followed a group of 277 children from primary to permanent dentition. In order to determine malocclusions and the need for orthodontic treatment, three clinical examinations were carried out at 3, 7 and 11.5 years of age. In addition, data on sucking habits, breathing disturbances and allergies was collected via questionnaires and dental records.

The findings revealed a significant percentage of malocclusions and need for orthodontic treatment in the children. At 71 per cent, the overall prevalence of malocclusions was equally high at 3 and 11.5 years of age, but a substantial number of self-corrections and establishment of new malocclusions occurred during the transition from primary to early permanent dentition. Self-correction was noted for anterior open bite, sagittal malocclusion and unilateral posterior crossbite, while deep bite, contact point displacement and spacing most commonly emerged from primary to permanent dentition.

Furthermore, the researchers found that the strong association between sucking habits and anterior open bite and posterior crossbite at both 3 and 7 years of age, reported in a previous evaluation of the data, was not apparent at 11.5 years. According to the authors, this implies that sucking habits in the early years have little or no later effect on the permanent dentition.

However, this conclusion appears to be strongly linked to the age in which the habit is given up. As previous studies indicate, thumb-sucking appears to have a greater impact on teeth movement the longer it is carried on in life. Therefore, the potential for tooth movement and malocclusion significantly increases if the habit continues past the age of 5 to 6 years into the mixed and permanent dentition.

The study, titled “Prevalence and change of malocclusions from primary to early permanent dentition: A longitudinal study”, was published online on 13 April in the Angle Orthodontist journal ahead of print.

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