Sucking on fingers or thumbs<br /><br />مقاله علمية لطبيبة الاسنان الدكتوره نور مهند عباس بعنوان thumb sucking <br /><br /> is healthy and normal when children are very young, but can cause problems if it continues. Most children stop somewhere between two and four years of age. <br />Problems caused by dummy, thumb or finger sucking<br />Sucking a dummy, thumb or finger can cause changes to the teeth and jaws if it becomes a long-term habit. The younger the age at which a child stops, the more likely their teeth and jaws will not have any issues and correct the growth problems naturally. <br />Long-time thumb-sucking may lead to: <br />an overbite (buck teeth) – for example, the front teeth may be pushed further forward than they would otherwise be. This can change the shape of the face. <br />an open bite – when the top and bottom front teeth don’t meet when the mouth is closed (normally the upper teeth slightly overlap the bottom teeth). If there is a gap between the upper and lower front teeth where the tongue could poke through, this could be an open bite.<br />a lisp – pre-school children who suck their fingers and thumbs can push their teeth out of their normal position. This can interfere with the correct formation of certain speech sounds