Thumb-sucking device?

[ceecee]

Okay, I know this sounds weird. The dentist I used to work for (12 years) used this technique. The child eats a cookie and a glass of milk before bed and calls him in 2 days to tell him if it worked! These kids would call and say it worked! Mind games!

[Leajess99]

Originally Posted by mrsbornkuntry

My DS's dentist told us today that he needs to stop sucking his thumb because it's affecting his teeth. He said the best way in his experience is to put a thumb sucking device in his mouth for 6 months. I don't doubt that it's a good idea, but my insurance doesn't cover it at all and they want $285 for it.

So my questions are, does anyone have any experiences to share about one of these? Did it work/not work? Was it painful? And my other question, if I'm going to do this, is there a way to make this less expensive? Would it be worth it to shop around and if so can I call around or would each dentist expect to actually see him to give me a price?

I would seriously take your son to an orthodontist for their opinion/options. My 10 year old daughter is getting something similar to the thumb sucking device due to a tongue thrust which has caused her an open bite. By going to the orthodontist you may have better luck with treatment coverage.

My son's former dentist wanted to put him in a chin cup which was going to be costly. In the end a visit to the orthodontist and we had better treatment options and we found that the chin cup was not the answer.

[Leajess99]

Originally Posted by danygirl

I also think the appliance is a vector for decay, so we avoided more fillings.

My son had a similar appliance and my youngest daughter will be getting one as well. My son did not get any cavities from having it and I doubt my daughter will either. As long as they are brushing their teeth, and if need be having you brush them as well, than there should be no problems with cavities. My son had his appliance at 8 and my daughter is 10 and getting hers in March.

[Jennifer84]

My DS (8) just recently got his thumb guard removed. He had his in for about 3 months. It wasn't painful at all to put in (they glue it onto a couple of the back teeth and it rests on the roof of their mouth so that they cannot possibly suck their thumb). It's been out for about a month and he hasn't sucked his thumb one time! It will save tons of money on an orthodontist later on if you can fix the issue now!

[BadgerGirl84]

Good luck. I sucked my thumb until I was 12 years old. Nothing my parents tried worked until I was determined to quit. (gosh, i sound like a smoker!)

I never heard of something you implant in your mouth to stop thumb sucking. It sounds kind of barbaric, but it would probably work. Lucky for me, I never needed braces.

[mrsbornkuntry]

We're starting with the bribe, DS's face lit up when I told him if he could sleep without sucking his thumb for two weeks he would get some more Skylander figures and if he did it for 3 months he will get Skylander Giants. He told me he was going to try really hard. I think I might need to put something on his thumb so he doesn't do it subconsciously while he's asleep though so I'm going to talk to him and see how he feels about a glove or some of the other ideas mentioned here now that he's actually on board with quitting.

It's funny that a poster mentioned smoking, I bribed my DH to quit, too. He kind of wanted to, but didn't want to put the work in. Well, his laptop died and I told him if he quit smoking for a month he could buy a new one. It was the motivation he needed, he did quit, then he started again when he deployed, but he has been home now for 3 months and hasn't smoked.

[mrsbornkuntry]

Originally Posted by Leajess99

I would seriously take your son to an orthodontist for their opinion/options. My 10 year old daughter is getting something similar to the thumb sucking device due to a tongue thrust which has caused her an open bite. By going to the orthodontist you may have better luck with treatment coverage.

My son's former dentist wanted to put him in a chin cup which was going to be costly. In the end a visit to the orthodontist and we had better treatment options and we found that the chin cup was not the answer.

I will keep this in mind if the methods at home don't work. I didn't consider seeing an orthodontist. I have had some trouble finding one in my area that will take my insurance though because I have a small amt. of dental coverage on our medical insurance and we have a dental plan on top of that so our medical has to be billed first and I'm finding that a lot of the ortho offices won't bill both. I'm on the lookout for one now because DD needs braces so that is still a reasonable option.

[DebMcDonald]

We tried everything (mittens at night, wrapping it, nail polish, and the only thing that actually worked for my DD was a pallet expander, which she needed anyway. I can honestly say that stucking her thumb didn't do anything to her mouth, she would have needed the braces anyway and the pallet expander all of my girls have also needed, so for us it was a blessing that it stopped the thumb sucking. My DD was probably 9 or 10 when she finally forced to stop.

[penn19]

Originally Posted by gillenkl

I wrapped dd thumb with a bandaid and promised a reward for not sucking. The reward was something "big" she really wanted (too many years ago I don't remember what it was) but it worked.

I did the same thing when my ds was 2. He hated bandaids with a passion. Took less than a weekend and he never tried again. Didn't choke either.

[mamaski]

For older kids, i would use the thum stuff as long as it is natural and no chemicals. For younger children (3-6) , i would use Thumbuddy To Love because it is positive and fun to help children stop thumb sucking.

[ktate82]

We went to the orthodontist last year (DS was 5) and had a tongue crib placed. His thumb sucking was to the point where it had pulled his top jaw out and pushed his lower jaw in. My insurance paid for half, with a bill of about $400 for me to pay. We had tried everything to get my son to stop sucking and this was the last resort. It took about 6 months to start making an impact and another 4 to stop the "sleeping thumb sucking". Overall though, I would say it was worth it. No ill effects, cavities, soreness, etc. He couldn't have hard candy, gummies, or such though.

[3pletprincesses]

Originally Posted by gillenkl

I wrapped dd thumb with a bandaid and promised a reward for not sucking. The reward was something "big" she really wanted (too many years ago I don't remember what it was) but it worked.

I have a home daycare and that's what almost every tumb sucking parent has done. They usally put the fabric ones that are super sticky. The kids don't like the texture of the fabric in their mouth therefor never puts it in.

[diamondpixienc]

Yes, DD#1 was a thumb sucker too and after hot sauce, band aids, and this sour nail coating stuff we bought at the pharmacy she got it put in at 5 It was attached in the upper pallette to the molars. It blocked the thumb from going in. You could see it behind her teeth. She did talk kind of funny for a few days but she just had a little discomfort when it was first installed gave her a little Tylenol that evening. Other than that she was a little frustrated because she wanted to suck her thumb at times but by the end of maybe week 3 that had stopped. So her 6mo reccommendation was only maybe a little over 4! So, I guess that would be a yes it worked for us and insurance did not cover hers either & it was $285 o.o.p.

[cepmom]

my youngest DD sucked her thumb. Her teeth grew around the spot where her thumb was, a perfect "hole" for her thumb to fit through! when she was 5 she had some warts on her thumb and fingers and the Dr said not to use compound W on it because of the danger of her putting her thumb in her mouth. She suggested we cover the warts with duct tape and see if it went away. Bonus side effect, DD couldn't put her thumb in her mouth and did end up quitting her thumb sucking habit. (and the warts went away too!)

[mrsbornkuntry]

It's been two weeks. DS willingly started wearing a glove on the hand with his "sucky thumb" and holding a stress ball (his idea) while he sleeps. Each morning he didn't suck his thumb he put a "T" on the calendar. He made it two weeks and got some new Skylanders characters today which he was super excited about. I don't think he's going to have any trouble making it the three months to get Skylanders Giants, it was definitely a good incentive and much cheaper than the device from the dentist