ABSTRACT
Thumbsucking has been associated with open bite, overjet, and closed bite dental malocclusions. In a large group of children ranging in age from birth to 16, malocclusions were observed in 10% of the thumbsuckers and in 7% of the nonthumbsuckers. The home has been a preferred setting for implementing procedures to control thumbsucking. Management procedures sometimes recommended for use in the home include sucking natural shaped bottle feeding nipples, sucking pacifiers such as the Nuk Sauger exerciser, wearing special constraining mittens, prolonged sucking from the breast or bottle, wearing thumb splints, adhesive bandages, restraints, or applying bitter-tasting chemicals to the thumb, and giving parental attention contingent upon nonthumbsucking and ignoring thumbsucking. Management procedures have also been implemented outside the home by dentists, teachers, and behavioral scientists.
