Gap in teeth from dummy?

[Duckingnora]

Hi all, never posted on here before, but I need some advice so here goes.

So I have a beautiful, intelligent, outgoing 4 year old daughter who still loves her dummy. While I know this isn't ideal, it's a real comfort to her and I've never really seen the need to take it away from her. I try and limit it mainly to bedtime, although that rarely happens.

The other day my mum mentioned to me that she thought her dummy might be affecting DD's teeth. DD has a gap between her top and bottom teeth at the front, so if she bites together her front teeth don't touch. I've never really thought much of it, since I had messed up teeth as a kid I thought it was probably genetic. But since my mum mentioned it I've noticed that gap is about the same size as the teat of her dummy. Could this be caused by her dummy?

I feel so bad I haven't noticed this before. Has anyone had this with their child? Any advice is appreciated.

Yes if she has it in her mouth a lot it can affect her teeth alignment

I would definitely ask a dentist whether it's the dummy or something he would have had anyway. My son had a gap with his milk teeth (he had a dummy till he was 3) which wasn't caused by the dummy and was actually a good thing as when his big teeth came he had room in his mouth and they are very nicely aligned.

I think OP is talking about an overbite rather than gaps between the individual teeth

You need to ditch the dummy, especially if her adult teeth are coming through. My friend took her DD to the dentist, as soon as he looked at her teeth he asked if she had a dummy or sucked her thumb. Shoes 9 now and has really obvious buck teeth.

I sucked my thumb until my teens & regret it so much because my teeth look crap

@NoGoodPunsLeft

You need to ditch the dummy, especially if her adult teeth are coming through. My friend took her DD to the dentist, as soon as he looked at her teeth he asked if she had a dummy or sucked her thumb. Shoes 9 now and has really obvious buck teeth.

I sucked my thumb until my teens & regret it so much because my teeth look crap

Oh no, I really don't want this. She hasn't seen a dentist in over a year because of Covid, so I've got no professional opinion on this.

Her teeth aren't exactly bucked, although they do stick out a little, but it's more there is a vertical gap between her top and bottom front teeth when her mouth is closed.

She also has a bottle, could that also be affecting it?

What kind of bottle?

I would try and remove the dummy and bottle as these can affect speech and teeth.

Maybe at Easter could the Easter bunny take the dummy for another baby and leave an egg?

Don’t panic. My daughter had this. She still had all her baby teeth. She was about 4 1/2 and we ditched the dummy. Once the adult teeth come through it all evens up

Yes the bottle should have been ditched soon after 1 year old. Bottles and dummies are bad for teeth

Bottles and dummies are terrible for teeth. You should have gotten rid of both a long time ago (around the age of 1).

Bottles are really bad for teeth. I would seriously try to ditch both dummy and bottle as soon as you can. There’s probably no way of knowing if her current teeth alignment is caused by them without input from a dentist, but since both can cause problems you’ll need to phase them out as soon as you can.

Her teeth will likely sort themselves when the big teeth come in in another year or two ish. But you just have to ditch the dummy and bottle. She's 4 and old enough to understand what is going to happen. It will be a week of whinging but then will be done and you won't have to worry about it anymore.

You really do need to ditch both ASAP.

Yes my DS teeth stick out slightly cos he loved his dummy. Gave it up when he was about 2 1/2 Dentist said it's fine as his adult teeth will come through where they would of normally. But as shes 4 mabye it's time to ditch the dummys now lots of praise and treats and it probably won't be as bad as you think

A bottle of milk?

This is called an open bite you're referring to. You really should look to stopping the dummy totally by now. When they're really small you can get away with it but with prolonged dummy use it can causes issues. I work in orthodontics and see kids who never gave up the dummy/thumb and it requires a lot of work to fix!

I have thought about getting rid of them before but she is so attached to them, and tbh I'm dreading the fallout. If it's not going to cause problems until her adult teeth come through then maybe we could wait until then? Or just let her have the dummy at night?

My son had an openbite from using a dummy; we got rid of it at 38 months and his teeth are now aligned properly at age 4.5. You do really need to ditch the dummies I'm afraid.

It can cause problems sign adult teeth too as the jaw shape can also be affected. I quite often see adults who were clearly thumb suckers or dummy users as children with really marked open bites. Echoing previous advice to try and get rid, although appreciate it may be hard.

With* adult teeth too - bear in mind that adult teeth are only a year or two away at 4.5 so if jaw shape is being affected now then there isn’t long
for it to correct itself unless the dummy goes soon

@Duckingnora

I have thought about getting rid of them before but she is so attached to them, and tbh I'm dreading the fallout. If it's not going to cause problems until her adult teeth come through then maybe we could wait until then? Or just let her have the dummy at night?

No, the adult teeth will follow behind the child ones, so if the baby teeth are misaligned so will be the adult teeth. From what I've read if they stop before the age of 7, they can usually correct themselves.

But nonetheless your daughter needs to give up her dummy. The older she gets the worse it will be and harder to remove. A 4 year old doesn't need a dummy. At the very least stop giving her milk in a bottle. She must drink water or juice from a cup, she can do it with milk.

@greenemerald

This is called an open bite you're referring to. You really should look to stopping the dummy totally by now. When they're really small you can get away with it but with prolonged dummy use it can causes issues. I work in orthodontics and see kids who never gave up the dummy/thumb and it requires a lot of work to fix!

Can I ask if the orthodontic ones are genuinely better for teeth or is it a marketing ploy? We use the ones in the picture attached with a very thin "stalk". He only uses them for sleep but is 2.5 and I can't see us getting rid any time soon (ASD - he's only just learnt to self soothe to sleep/when he wakes in the night and the dummy is a big part of that)

Ditch it now. And the bottle of milk.

You aren't doing her any favours at all!! Suck up the fall out- that's parenting I'm afraid.

It will only get harder honestly. Plan it and do it.