After age three or four, treatment for thumb sucking becomes advisable. Certainly, children should be given help to quit the habit before they enter school in order to prevent teasing.
There are a number of steps you can take:
- The first step should be positive reinforcement. Simply reminding a child that he and she is growing up, and "big boys and girls do not suck their thumbs or fingers," might be all the encouragement he/she needs. Peer pressure also influences this habit.
- Take one step at a time. For example, encourage your child not to suck during a daytime activity, such as story time or while watching television. Gradually add another activity, and then another, until sucking is controlled.
- Another approach could be to reward children for the days when they did not use their thumbs. Keeping a diary or calendar recording their progress is also helpful (some children like using an ink pad and placing a thumb print in the calendar to mark their success; other like stickers).
- Another help would be to put a band-aid on the thumb or fingers to remind the child to stop sucking (like many habits, often the child is unaware that they're doing it).
If these approaches are not successful, your orthodontist will probably prescribe an appliance to block sucking habits. These appliances are divided into two groups - those for the thumb and those for the mouth.
Thumb Guards
Appliances that fit over the thumb - are the least invasive. Some are made of plastic, some of rubber. They fit over the thumb and generally are secured to the wrist. A child can wear them at bedtime and when thumb sucking is most tempting (such as while reading or watching TV). And since they are easily put on and taken off, no one in the child's peer group needs to know about them.
Manufacturers claim the thumb guards can stop sucking in less than a week and is successful more than 90% of the time. However, you should talk to your orthodontist before using them.
Mouth Appliances
Mouth appliances are inserted into the mouth, some manually by the patient and others by the orthodontist. Some use a "cage" to trap the thumb or finger. Others use "spikes" to keep the digits out. In all cases, they generally force the thumb sucker into compliance by making the habit uncomfortable for them.
These appliances can cost from $300 to $700.
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