Do Pacifiers Hinder Proper Tooth Development

Posted on 2/8/2021 by Fariba Mutschler

Pacifiers serve the same purpose as thumb suckling, and most parents embrace its use to soothe their babies and make them happy. While these tools are useful during a child's initial stages of growth, you need to stop their use at some point, as they may compromise the development of your child's teeth. We recommend that you stop using pacifiers around the age of two to prevent tooth misalignment and oral infections.

Tooth Misalignment

Generally, your teeth and jaws will take the shape of the object your mouth holds frequently. If you allow your child to stay with their pacifier up to their teeth development, their teeth will take the pacifier's shape and grow misaligned. The result will be an open bite, where the teeth do not touch each other when they close their mouth. They may also develop an overbite where the teeth protrude outwards, with those on the upper jaw covering the bottom teeth. Pacifiers can also affect the shape of the roof of the mouth and narrowing it.

Oral Infection

Some parents put sugar, honey, or syrup in their baby pacifiers to soothe them. While this may help, these sugars provide food for the harmful mouth bacteria, which release acids in the mouth, exposing your child to tooth decay. Other parents stick the baby pacifier in their mouths during cleaning. If a parent has gum disease, they can introduce the bacteria into their child's mouth and spread the disease, given the child's low immunity. Therefore, if you want to clean your baby's pacifier, you should use water and not your saliva.

Given that pacifiers are useful in calming your baby, you should be cautious about their teeth development and encourage them to stop using them before their first tooth erupts. While doing this, you should be gentle to avoid stressing your child altogether. Contact us today for more details on the impact of pacifiers on your child's teeth development.

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Dr. Fariba Mutschler & Dr. Mark Mutschler have created this informative blog to help educate the community. If you like an article or the dental blog in general please use the share it button to post to Facebook, Twitter, or Google+.
Great Grins for KIDS Portland, 13908 SE Stark Street, Ste C, Portland, OR 97233-2161, (971) 470-0054, portlandchildrensdentist.com, 9/7/2024, Related Phrases: pediatric dentist Portland,