When you become a parent, you enter a world of often-confusing decisions. One of the choices you may have to make is whether to allow your child to suck their thumb or use a soother or dummy to help them relax and settle. Many kids naturally abandon this habit around 12 months of age, but some children continue doing it for longer periods – and that’s when problems may occur.

Dentist Dr Greg Thomas, based at Bupa Dental Rochedale in Queensland, says dummies, soothers and thumb-sucking can cause permanent damage to the development of the jaw and alignment of teeth. 

“With all those things, it’s creating a suction force in the mouth,” Dr Thomas says. “With sucking on the thumb, the cheek muscles move the jaw inwards and then bump out the top teeth, keeping the palate narrow.”

What is the impact?

Not only can these habits affect the position of teeth and jaw, they may also result in a gap between the front teeth (especially with thumb sucking) that can make it hard to bite certain foods. Long-term dummy use or thumb-sucking may also impact speech development and breathing patterns. 

“We’re seeing kids who are mouth-breathers, and these are kids who often at night won’t sleep well; they’ll be very restless,” he says, adding that breathing through the nose is better. “Bedwetting is often a sign of a breathing issue when the kids are getting a little older. They wake up tired, with poor concentration and darkness around their eyes. And it all comes from this poor sleep due to mouth-breathing.”

There’s also a risk of tooth decay if you dip your child’s dummy in anything sweet like honey or jam – which Dr Thomas urges parents not to do.

Which is worse?

Dr Thomas says dummies, soothers and thumb-sucking can all have negative impacts, but sucking the thumb might be the worst. Research shows it’s a harder habit to break than dummy-sucking.
“Thumb sucking’s probably got the potential to have the longest impact because the thumb is always there,” he says. 

When to stop thumb sucking

Parenting is hard work, and Dr Thomas has enormous sympathy for mums and dads finding it tough to separate their child from their dummy or thumb-sucking tendency. He recommends this habit be broken “generally after two, but definitely before school starts”. Keep in mind the longer the habit lasts, the harder it is to stop. 

Here are some tips that may help:

• Pick your moment wisely. If your child is under stress or going through change, they may not respond well to additional challenges
• Talk to your child about giving it up so they understand that it’s important
• Give plenty of encouragement, but be firm
• Avoid shaming, teasing or punishing them for thumb-sucking or dummy use
• Go slowly. Limit the use of the dummy to certain times, such as sleep time, then gradually give it to them less and less over time
• Be patient. The first few days will likely be the hardest
• Make an occasion of being ‘dummy free’, perhaps with a reward

Talk to a dentist near you

We’re here to help, call on your Bupa dentist for advice – you can find one in your area here.