When do pacifiers ruin the teeth

Fortunately, most children outgrow the habit on their own before permanent dental problems arise. A prolonged and frequent sucking habit may eventually cause crooked teeth or bite problems. The longer the habit continues, the more likely it is that your child will need orthodontic treatment in the future. Consequently, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommends discouraging pacifier use after age three.

The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians recommend weaning children from the pacifier even earlier — beginning at six months to one year of age — due to both the potential for dental problems and the increased risk for ear infections that prolonged pacifier use can cause. Both pacifiers and thumb sucking affect the mouth in similar ways, and both can cause dental issues in children. However, it is generally easier to wean your child from a pacifier habit than a thumb sucking habit.

Weaning from thumb or finger sucking may involve constant reminding from the caregiver, and is especially difficult to control after the child goes to bed. By contrast, a pacifier can simply be taken away. For this reason, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommends pacifier use over thumb sucking. An orthodontic pacifier is intended to reduce the harmful dental problems caused by traditional pacifiers.

Whereas a traditional pacifier has a round or slightly elongated nipple, an orthodontic pacifier has a nipple with a flat bottom and a slightly rounded top. Additionally, if your child is constantly sucking on a pacifier, it causes the auditory tubes to remain continuously open. This is not normal. It can allow secretions from the throat to enter the ear canal and promote bacterial or middle ear infections.

It is recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and American Academy of Family Physicians that you may give your child a pacifier at the age of weeks, if breastfeeding, and preferably wean by 6 or 7 months. Sometimes habits are extremely difficult to break, especially with toddlers. Pacifier teeth develop from the prolonged use of sucking on a pacifier.

If your child is past the age of years, then self-correction is not possible. Other treatment options for dental development problems must be explored. Whether your child has developed an underbite, overbite, crooked teeth or compromised jaw development, there are treatment options available. He or she can do this through something as non-invasive as braces or other dental tools to help correct jaw alignment or minor palate adjustments. Braces can do the following.

Depending on the severity of the damage caused by prolonged pacifier use, the length of treatment can range from a few months to several years. Surgery is usually not part of the treatment plan for correcting pacifier teeth. The only exception would be removal of one or two teeth. An intensive Turkish study conducted in neonatal intensive care units NICUs between and showed that premature babies who were given pacifiers were able to progress faster from tube feeding to nursing.

For all of their benefits, pacifiers do come with potential drawbacks by way of dental issues. One of the most well-known risks from pacifier overuse is a misaligned bite.

This can include a crossbite , an open bite , or other types of malocclusions. In particular, these dental issues are more commonly seen when older children are still using pacifiers. For example, an older study found that malocclusion was present in nearly 71 percent of the participating children who continued to use a pacifier or suck their thumbs past 4 years of age.

In contrast, only 36 percent of children that stopped thumb-sucking or pacifier use between ages 3 and 4 had signs of malocclusion. And just 14 percent of children who stopped thumb-sucking or using pacifiers by 24 months exhibited the condition. In some extreme cases, pacifier use has been linked to gingival recession, or gum loss, and pediatric cavities.

However, these oral conditions are also a consequence of parents dipping pacifiers in sweet substances. Besides being somewhat gross, sharing pacifiers can expose children to bacteria, which can also encourage cavities or general infections to occur.

Leaving gums or that first set of pearly whites exposed to all that sugar can eventually cause cavities to develop. Likewise, if the pacifier shield is too small and your baby can get the entire pacifier into their mouth, this could be a choking risk.

But to avoid dental problems, be sure to wean your child off any pacifier at an appropriate age. As early as about 24 months of age, continued use of a pacifier may encourage oral issues.

For example, some physicians may recommend reducing pacifier use between the ages of 6 and 12 months due to increased risk of contracting otitis media, or ear infections.

The AAP has stated more recently that pacifier use beyond 2 years old may cause issues with baby teeth, but that these issues are often reversible if your kiddo stops the sucking behavior before their adult teeth come in. The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry , on the other hand, advises stopping pacifier use after the age of 3 years. Pacifier teeth — or rather, the dental issues they can cause — is a cause for concern for many parents. However, many experts say that when a child is weaned off of a pacifier will directly affect how permanent the dental issues may be.

For example, issues detected before 24 months of age can often correct themselves within 6 months from when a child is weaned. In that case, no dental interventions may be necessary.