Overview
Thumb sucking is a common behavior among young children. However, some adults also have been associated with issues of thumb sucking. Thump sucking has many reasons behind it, especially for children. First, in many children, thump sucking is due to reflex actions. Others suck thump as a sign of relaxation, boredom or when they want to sleep or any other reacted issues. Other children also suck thump when they are isolated or are not feeling well. Thumb sucking is tied to many issues and challenges. There are dental problems which are associated with the effects of thumb sucking, also are the psychological issues which may also occur as a result of thumb sucking. The interest of this paper is anchored on the adverse effects of thumb sucking on children. The article majors on adverse consequences of thumb sucking including related psychological issues. Dental consequences are also dealt with within the article.
The negative consequences
Persistent thump sucking is not healthy for the child. Children tend to suffer from various adverse effects due to the habit. The first side effect of the thumb sucking is the social issues or social consequences. Thump sucking has a habit of capturing the attention of individuals, especially in public. For this reasons, children who are victims of thumb sucking often find themselves on the wrong side of social issues as they face all manner of critics from their age mats. These children also face all sorts of injustices and misjudgments from their parents, children and even the society as a whole ( Dosh & Bhad, 2011). Thumb sucking is not a new habit among the children in the community. However, one's child may be judged in the society when they persistently suck their thumb. This may not go well with them in the entire community.
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The next negative consequence of thumb sucking is the speech impediment among the affected or the victim child. Many scholars suggest that thumb sucking may relate to the difficulty in a speech by the kid. The effect of thumb sucking cannot be underestimated. It causes effects different parts of the human body which make it clear for human speech. It affects the teeth, tongue, jaw, palates and many others. For this reason, this habit is associated with effects on expression and eating habit. Thumb sucking is often related to some lisping and another kind of speech impediments. Moreover, other scholar’s claim that thump is sucking in a child makes them unable to spell some difficult consonants such the letter T clearly or with much ease as they should have been. Causation should be taken since the persistence of this habit may cause the child to have difficulty in pronunciation of some ambiguous terms since pronunciation are controlled by the shape of teeth about the form of the tongue.
The next problem which also is related to the thumb sucking among children is the skin disease or issues. Children who for many years have had the habit of thumb sucking may face some serious skin problem or challenges on their preferred finger or thumb. The perennial exposure of the thump to the moisture in the mouth renders it vulnerable to germs and another type of disease. In some case, the child’s finger may crack or have some cracks. This may cause bleeding which put the child in danger of contracting some infectious disease. Alternatively, the thumb may begin to develop some calloused look after a long time of sucking by the kid. Alternatively, such children risk spreading the germs to other children especially when playing this will perpetuate the harmful effects.
Moreover, the thumb sucking among children is also associated with dental malocclusion. According to Levrini et al., (2012), i t courses overbite and the open bite in a child. Open bite is where the top, as well as the bottom teeth, directs themselves outwards. This misalignment means the child cannot have their upper and lower teeth in tough even if they close their mouth. This cans un-doubtfully affect the child social relationship as well as health wise. This can also increase the cost of medication. Overbite, on the other hand, occurs when teeth become directed outwards. In this case, the effect or the teeth misalignment is confined to only upper front teeth. This has been known to be the sole effect on the child smile face and other effects.
Lastly, thumb sucking is also related to some psychological issues. Many scholars point out that thumb sucking brings about mental stress. Their explanation is that in many instances, children who suck their thumbs are victims of critics from their peers. Such children often find themselves misjudged by their peers and individuals within the society (Dimberg et al., 2010). To them, the children then feel isolated, and hence many develop stress and other related issues psychological issues.
Conclusion
In conclusion, thumb sucking has been associated with some adverse effects on children. The paper has majored on some of the effects which thump sucking brings about among children. Dental misalignment is one of the issues majored on as effects of the thumb sucking. Others which have also been given weight in the paper are the social problems among the children, psychological issues and speech issues.
References
Dimberg, L., Bondemark, L., Söderfeldt, B., & Lennartsson, B. (2010). Prevalence of malocclusion traits and sucking habits among 3-year-old children. Swed Dent J , 34 (1), 35-42.
Doshi, U. H., & Bhad, W. A. (2011). Spring-loaded bite-blocks for early correction of skeletal open bite associated with thumb sucking. American journal of orthodontics and dentofacial orthopaedics , 140 (1), 115-120.
Levrini, L., Tettamanti, L., Macchi, A., Tagliabue, A., & Caprioglio, A. (2012). Invisalign teen for thumb-sucking management. A case report. Eur J Paediatr Dent , 13 (2), 155-158.
