appliance for finger/thumb sucking

[robin3]

Anyone have any experience with an appliance to prevent finger sucking? My ds is 8 and has been sucking his fingers since he could get them into his mouth! He does it all. the. time. At home, in school, anywhere, anytime!!
We have tried everything from ignoring it to icky stuff you paint on fingernails, (it was cayenne and he liked the taste!) to (dare I say it?) bribery. It is at the point where it is messing with the shape of his mouth and he has callouses on his fingers.

So, the dentist has suggested an appliance that actually attaches to the back teeth and runs around the back of the upper teeth to prevent fingers from fitting into the mouth. It is removed after the habit is gone, generally after about 3 months. She said that some "persistant" children manage to find a way around it but that it generally works very well.

Anyone have experience with this?
Thanks!

[WaitingForKiddos]

I have to say that compared to the other appliances I've seen to prevent finger/thumb sucking the one your dds is recommending seems less traumatic and intrusive. Can DS talk through it okay? It would seem to slur speech by blocking the correct positioning of the tongue against the front teeth and palate.

I haven't had any experience with them...besides seeing a few kids with the torture-device looking things on their hands. Really, I would think that after age 10 or so the social repercussions of fingers in a mouth would be good enough motivation to break the habit.

I wonder if you could steer the obsessiveness of the sucking towards something else DS can do with his hands...making models, painting, working with clay to then glaze and show off.

[robin3]

Thanks for responding! One of our concerns is about his speech being affected but the dentist said that it may take a couple of days to get used to it but that it should be fine.

Peer pressure.... you would think that he would get teased but so far he hasn't. Which is good but not helpful in this situation. Not that I want him to get teased.

Anyway,we're going to try it. I was just hoping someone had some experience with it.
Thanks!

[1littlebit]

i sucked my thumb till i was 10... and i have never needed braces (the dentist was quite amazed) i don't know about the appliances though...my parents bribed me with an american girl doll.