A sizable portion of our daily life comprises the use of habits formed over our lifetimes—no matter how long or short. Regardless of current age, these repetitive behaviors influence how individuals live day in and day out. Young children are no exception to this rule and often perform actions without consciously thinking about what they are doing. Such habitual human behaviors can be good or bad based on their long-term outcomes.
Thumb sucking is a prevalent childhood habit today. This natural habit visibly emerges in a baby’s behavior as early as the womb and can prolong throughout early childhood. Similar to any habit, the longer the practice persists, the more difficult it becomes to break the dependency. For this reason, many turn to treatment strategies—such as wearing thumb guards—to curb the potential consequences of the behavior.
As a concerned parent, you might have a wide range of questions about the use of a guard product for your own child. Does the gadget serve as a helpful addition? If so, what are the genuine benefits of a thumb sucking guard? How exactly does this device work to curb this childhood habit? Read on to uncover further details about the importance of these innovative tools.
The Effects of Prolonged Childhood Habits
Habit formation has deep ties to human health. For children, the KidsHealth medical experts recognize how habits are often behaviors that provide a positive outcome. While some childhood habits may initially start as a reflex, these learned practices can linger past their normal stage of development due to pleasurable or positive associations.
Why Healthy Oral Habits Matter
Even if a habit provides a positive outcome, that doesn’t mean it’s comprehensively good for children’s health. For example, persistent habits, such as non-nutritive sucking, hinder children instead of helping them as they age. Over time, thumb sucking turns from a normal and innocent reflex to an unhealthy and harmful dependency.
Keep in mind that oral health has an identifiable connection with overall health that can shape a person’s well-being at any age. Poor oral hygiene and habits can develop problems that affect everyday activities and impact a child’s quality of life during critical growth and development.
The Health Consequences of Non-Nutritive Sucking
While thumb sucking provides self-soothing comfort and security to small children, a prolonged dependency can cause serious damage. Dental professionals note this to be especially true when a child’s permanent teeth begin to erupt.
Children tend to voluntarily stop or outgrow their sucking habit between two and four years old. If not, a variety of oral health consequences can occur. As the American Dental Association notes, habitual “sucking may cause problems with the proper growth of the mouth and alignment of the teeth.” Since the thumb is directly in the way of emerging permanent teeth, chronic sucking can lead to poor dental and skeletal structure development. That being said, these outcomes are not inevitable.
How Parental Support and Guidance Aid Treatment
Pediatricians and dentists often recommend a treatment plan that involves the child in the process. Age-appropriate reward systems, behavioral approaches, positive reinforcement, and visual reminders can work to change the pattern of behavior. Sometimes, simple intervention solutions work, and other times a child needs extra help and support to extinguish the persistent practice for good.
As the pediatric professionals at WebMD advise, parents should avoid nagging, reprimanding, or pulling a child’s thumb out of their mouth. Taking on these actionable approaches can create an unsteady power struggle and backfire on your continual efforts. Any attempts to wean a child off their thumb sucking habit must be strengthened with proper support and personalized guidance.
The Practical Use of Treatment Devices
When other efforts to curb the habit prove unsuccessful, a habit-breaking thumb guard can be the best method to avoid potential problems with a child’s normal development. The right application of a guard device can foster proper oral health and well-being.
What Is a Habit-Breaking Device?
A thumb sucking device is a professionally developed product to help parents ease the habit-breaking process. As a more mechanical approach to breaking a chronic sucking habit, a thumb guard device is a strategically designed plastic shield that covers your child’s thumb. The physical barrier fits perfectly over the thumb to prevent the child from sucking directly on this easy-to-reach digit. You won’t find an easier-to-use solution that balances safety and efficiency in one culminated treatment.
The Advantage of Removable Guard Designs
When considering the benefits of a thumb sucking guard, don’t overlook its flexible design and strategic features. Compared to orthodontic devices that are fixed right into the mouth, thumb guards are alternative solutions that offer unparalleled comfort. Mouth appliances are effective for some children, but thumb guards are practical for all. Thanks to their ergonomic design, children can wear them for a long period of time—or remove them as needed—until they break the habit.
A Deterrence Solution That Works
How does this type of deterrence solution work? Essentially, thumb guards take the desired joy out of the habit by preventing the sucking sensation from happening. When wearing this device, a frequent thumb sucker can no longer place the digit into their mouth in a soothing position.
The plastic guard shield attaches to a colorful bracelet that wraps around your child’s wrist. These secure bracelets are fun to wear but difficult to remove—no need to worry about the device loosening or falling off during daily activities. The ventilated appliance keeps the skin under the device dry and cool for safe, continual wear.
TGuard’s Patented Concept
After periods of effective research and development, the team at TGuard has designed several top-rated guard products to break the sucking habit forevermore. We offer the AeroThumb treatment kit as a proven thumb sucking remedy. Wondering how to stop finger sucking instead? We alternatively provide the AeroFinger, a device specifically designed for multiple digit sucking.
In any situation, our devices efficiently disrupt the sucking sensation to curb a child’s chronic habit in under 30 days. Read the reviews and testimonials for yourself on our website—TGuard is here to help your child’s smile shine for years to come.
Sources:
“Breaking the Thumb-Sucking Habit” from WebMD
“Oral health: A window to your overall health” from Mayo Clinic
“Thumbsucking and Pacifier Use” from the American Dental Health Association
“Your Child’s Habits” from Nemours KidsHealth
