All those of you who say "I sucked my thumb and my teeth are fine"...

[SoupDragon]

Today I took DS1 (8) for a consultation to have orthotropic braces to correct overcrowded teeth.

What was very interesting was at the end of the consultation, the dentist looked at me and said "You used to suck your thumb, didn't you?". We'd talked a little about family teeth (orthodontics, extractions etc of which I've had none) but I'd not mentioned my thumb sucking which I must have done until 8 or 9 I guess. My teeth are a little overcrowded but fairly straight, no overbite, underbite or anything like that and this dentist had not looked in my mouth at all. He was absolutely right. Whilst the teeth may be straight, it will (apparently!) be because the jaws have grown differently to compensate.

So, you may claim tht thunb sucking hasn't affected your teeth at all but you are in all likelihood wrong Whilst I've always been adamant that thubb sucking had affected DSs teeth I was just as sure it hadn't afected mine.

oh my sister had to have a massive brace because she sucked her thumb. the grew sort of sideways!

Well of course I'd expect a dragon's jaws to grow a bit differently.

Was it the chain smoking that gave you away then (wasn't there some study or other linking thumb-sucking and smoking?)

I had loads of braces and I sicked my thumb til I was 8. I know it was my fault. It did affect my teeth.

dd is a thumbsucker now and while she's 22 months Iwoon't do anything about it. But I will very very soon.

You don't have to convince me!

Sucked!!!

my teeth are cr*p and I didn't suck my thumb........or fingers, or have a dummy

A dentist can always tell if you sucked your thumb as a child. Even if you didn't need a brace it is obvious. I am hoping my son will stop soon but I sucked mine until I was 23 so he has a way to go yet. Ironically my two youngest had dummies and didn't suck their thumbs and their teeth seem fine.

I did suck my thumb and my teeth did stick out, I had 8 teeth taken out due to overcrowding and then wore a brace for 2 years.

Soupy, can I ask, will you Ds be having a brace fitted now ?? Dd2 is 7 and her teeth stick out alot, but at her last appointment last week, our dentist never even mentioned it.

Meant to say that Dd2 didn't suck her thumb but hers stick out alot.

no cs oyu is a freak
ine are fine

I've thought about this long and hard and I think...

some thumb-suckers' teeth are affected and some thumb-suckers' teeth are not.

Yes, Nutty. It's different to orthodontic braces where they remove teeth and force the rest straight. They correct the growth of the jaw to accomodate the teeth. Whilst not new, it's not very wide spread (it's orthotropics, not orthodontics). People travel down to this clinic from Wales etc to be treated

It was very interesting. Apparently not closing your mouth causes problems too, all that sitting slack jawed isn't helping! It's not because you have too many/too big teeth for your jaw, it's because the way you hold your mouth etc affects how the jaw grows. Apparently.

Anyway, it's going to cost a f-ing fortune!

That's what I thought Pointy but I was sure mine hadn't. I guess they haven't per se, it's my jaws.

Some people can't close their mouths becuase of their large teeth I think.

I've always been glad I can close my mouth.

SD - can you describe what the dentist spotted, ie in what way is your jaw different? This sounds really interesting. (NB, being nosy, feel free to say "bog off")

Should close it more often!

I am going to ask the dentist if she can tell, next time we go

v interesting thread

This wasn't a commonorgarden dentist, Franny.

Um, it's something to do with the way your jaw should grow outwards. Thumsucking and having your mouth open causes it to grow more downwards and back I think. It can also affect your nose too beczuse of where the nasal cartildge attaches to the front of your face - as the jaw develops wrongly, it pulls the cartilidge causing the bony bit to form a bump. It was fascinating! Try googling orthotropics.

The example he used to show that big teeth make no differenece is that if you cross a chiuaua with a great dane (interesting!) the resulting dog would not have overcrowded teeth. It's only humans who have this problem due to eating softer foods than we ought to in nature and thumbsucking and slack jaws. Overcrowded teeth does not appear to be a problem in any other species. Allegedly.

Isn't thumbsucking an instinctive behaviour though? Dummy sucking maybe not so much so, but thumbsucking is a natural urge, no? So you would think it would be accommodated in our biology somehow.

I saw my dd's teeth begin to protrude quite dramatically within the space of a year. She stopped sucking her thumb and they went back and are now perfectly straight again.

However, my sister sucked her thumb until she was about 12 and her teeth are gorgeous and straight.

I think it largely depends how you suck and whether you push out your teeth.

Thanks Soupy, thats really interesting, haven't heard of that method before. Dd2 will have to go down the normal route though if it is pricey, although from what I hear the NHS may not always now pay for braces anyway.

I sucked my thumb and needed braces (including a weird one called a 'cage brace', not pretty)

Well I didn't Google very far but I was pretty taken aback. Clicky here for instance . I shall have a good surf, thanks SD

But Spidermama, my teeth haven't been pushed out at all (they were perfectly straight til my wisdom teeth came through) and the dentist could still tell by looking at my jaw, the shape of my chin etc. I was gobsmacked.