I didn't know we had a dental thread on here, so I'll move this on over!
My son (Julian) turned 3 in October, and he had his first dental check up and cleaning today. I was worried, but he did very well. The only problems were that I'm not brushing his teeth often or well enough, and that he sucks on his fingers still. Since he was a baby he has sucked on his pointer and middle finger together, upside down. It looks sort of strange. Anyway, this is causing his front teeth to grow in crooked, and there to be a gap between his top and bottom teeth. The dentist was adamant today about him needing to stop sucking on his fingers - immediately. He sort of gave me an ultimatum and told me that if he hadn't stopped sucking his fingers in 3 weeks, he wanted me to bring Julian back in to have a device made for him that will go in his mouth to stop him from being able to suck his fingers (I can't remember what he called it). He said this won't hurt at all. But still, I am hesitant.
Julian will start preschool this fall, so I have been thinking about it and figured I'd start working on it with him this next year to try and break the habit before he starts school. But being rushed like this...
The dentist said that he was causing pretty severe skeletal disfiguration (or something, lol) and that if we couldn't stop this very soon then he may require early orthodontic work and possibly surgeries. Now that I'm writing this, I'm thinking of so many questions I should have asked him, but of course standing there I just felt like a bad mommy because my 3 year old had plaque on his teeth and was still sucking his fingers!
My son's teeth are fairly crooked, and I had already assumed he'd get braces as a teenager, since I went through the same thing. But I feel like the dentist is rushing this for no reason. Shouldn't I be concerned about the way his teeth are growing once his permanent are about to come in? Most of the information I'm finding online says to worry about thumb and finger sucking if it extends to 4-6 years, when the permanent teeth come in.
Should I get a second opinion? I'm worried about trying to break this habit so quickly. It's a soother for him. And I didn't breastfeed him, so I have this underlying guilt that he didn't get the same "soothing" as my daughter (who I am now breastfeeding) so I feel worse about stopping his finger sucking.
Opinions?
My son (Julian) turned 3 in October, and he had his first dental check up and cleaning today. I was worried, but he did very well. The only problems were that I'm not brushing his teeth often or well enough, and that he sucks on his fingers still. Since he was a baby he has sucked on his pointer and middle finger together, upside down. It looks sort of strange. Anyway, this is causing his front teeth to grow in crooked, and there to be a gap between his top and bottom teeth. The dentist was adamant today about him needing to stop sucking on his fingers - immediately. He sort of gave me an ultimatum and told me that if he hadn't stopped sucking his fingers in 3 weeks, he wanted me to bring Julian back in to have a device made for him that will go in his mouth to stop him from being able to suck his fingers (I can't remember what he called it). He said this won't hurt at all. But still, I am hesitant.
Julian will start preschool this fall, so I have been thinking about it and figured I'd start working on it with him this next year to try and break the habit before he starts school. But being rushed like this...
The dentist said that he was causing pretty severe skeletal disfiguration (or something, lol) and that if we couldn't stop this very soon then he may require early orthodontic work and possibly surgeries. Now that I'm writing this, I'm thinking of so many questions I should have asked him, but of course standing there I just felt like a bad mommy because my 3 year old had plaque on his teeth and was still sucking his fingers!
My son's teeth are fairly crooked, and I had already assumed he'd get braces as a teenager, since I went through the same thing. But I feel like the dentist is rushing this for no reason. Shouldn't I be concerned about the way his teeth are growing once his permanent are about to come in? Most of the information I'm finding online says to worry about thumb and finger sucking if it extends to 4-6 years, when the permanent teeth come in.
Should I get a second opinion? I'm worried about trying to break this habit so quickly. It's a soother for him. And I didn't breastfeed him, so I have this underlying guilt that he didn't get the same "soothing" as my daughter (who I am now breastfeeding) so I feel worse about stopping his finger sucking.
Opinions?
