Habits that deform the mouth of the little ones

• The pacifier, if it is lengthened beyond three years, can irreversibly deform the teeth.
• Biting pencils, pens ... as well as using your teeth to open bags, cutting labels can cause dental fractures, dislocations and movements.
• Breathing through the mouth, and misplacing the tongue when swallowing are other causes of dental deformities, and should be corrected.

Are these…

• Use of . It is very beneficial if used at the right stage, since it calms and comforts them, but it must be eliminated before three years of age, otherwise the deformation it causes is considered irreversible.
• Thumb sucking habit. It has the same calming and comforting effect as the pacifier, but it is much more difficult to remove. It is very important to get the little one to be aware of leaving it. It causes deformations that many times can become totally irreparable, even with.
• Biting pencils, pens ... Obviously this habit is not going to do you any good. It is usually more of a nervous type and can cause small fractures in enamel and dentin.
• Atypical swallowing. It is produced by the incorrect placement of the tongue when swallowing. To go well, when swallowing we should place the tongue on the palate, instead of putting it forward (towards the teeth), which is what the child with atypical swallowing does every time he swallows. It is a very harmful habit, difficult to eliminate and for which the help of a speech therapist is required. It should be borne in mind that when doing orthodontics, if the cause of the poor placement of the teeth is an atypical swallowing and it is not treated, it is most likely that in the long run there will be a recurrence of orthodontic treatment.
• Oral breathing. Breathing through the mouth has several oral affectations, among which maxillary compression stands out. The upper jaw is narrow and very deep, and when occluding it does not do so correctly with the lower jaw. In this case, the assessment by an otolaryngologist is very important.
• To bite nails. It is not good for the jaws, teeth or nails, apart from the obvious source of infection from nail biting.
• Use the teeth as various tools. To open bags, cut labels ... It can cause dental fractures, dislocations and dental displacements.
• Licking lips It is not a habit that deforms the teeth, but especially in winter (cut lips suck and cut even more in the cold) they can cause a lot of discomfort and pain, as well as becoming a source of infection.