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Lets work together to identify and correct orofacial myofunctional impairments and dysfunction so you can FLOW through life as your best and healthiest self!

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Thumb Sucking

A thumb sucking habit in a young child can be detrimental to the proper development of their mouth. Small children have very moldable palates (almost like silly putty) to allow for growth. If the thumb is consistently applying pressure to the palate, the palate forms high and narrow and narrows the arch of teeth. The tongue is designed to rest in the palate and do the work of shaping the palate into a wide and shallow shape. If a thumb is in the way and the tongue is unable to do its job as architect of the palate, we get a “thumb print” rather than the desired “tongue print.” It also retrains the tongue to rest in the floor of the mouth instead of the palate, so even when the thumb sucking habit is corrected, the tongue rest posture does not usually correct itself without implementing myofunctional therapy to retrain and strengthen the tongue.

Why is this a problem?

When the palate forms in a high/narrow shape, this means that the maxilla (top jaw bone) has not developed forward and side to side properly. In response to a smaller maxilla, the mandible (lower jaw bone) will only grow so much to fit the maxilla, thus also being smaller/narrower than it should be. This is known as craniofacial underdevelopment and can lead to:

  • Crowding (crooked) teeth and the need for braces
  • Smaller airway (because the tongue is pushed back into the throat due to the smaller size of the mandible). Which can lead to…
    • Mouth Breathing, sleep disordered breathing and possible sleep apnea, which can lead to…
    • Increased tooth decay, gum issues, tooth grinding/clenching, behavioral issues like ADHD, snoring, and poor posture.
  • Low resting tongue posture created by a thumb sucking habit typically causes poor swallowing patterns that can lead to digestive issues like reflux, stomach aches, gas, etc. It can also be a major factor in the development of sleep apnea, because the tongue lacks proper strength and tone and falls to the back of the throat during sleep.

It is imperative that a thumb sucking habit be stopped as soon as possible and myofunctional therapy be implemented to retrain proper tongue rest posture. It is important that the child wants to stop their thumb sucking and has positive support in doing so.