Study highlights thumb-sucking dangers
A study carried out by Britain’s first thumb-sucking clinic, Metamorphosis Orthodontics, has revealed that permanent damage can be caused if a child regularly sucks their thumb.
The study revealed that around eighty percent of babies and children suck their thumbs and that if the activity continued for a long period of time, problems could emerge. ‘A little bit of soothing when they’re really young is a good idea,’ stated orthodontist Dr. Mowla-Copley. However, Dr. Mowla-Copley continued, ‘… thumb sucking after the age of four of five can have detrimental effects to the development of the face and jaw.’
The Metamorphosis clinic helps to treat patients who have thumb-sucking related problems, and have issues children as young as nine with special retainers. The retainer stops the child from sucking their thumb for a period of around nine months and is endorsed by the American Orthodontic Society in the US.
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