THUMB SUCKING HABITS AND INCREASED SKELETAL OPEN BITE – AN OBSERVATIONAL STUDY IN AL MADINAH AL MUNAWARAH REGION, SAUDI ARABIA

Abstract

Malocclusion can be prevented by recognizing habits and evaluating its side effects on the orofacial structure and dentition. The study assesses the role of thumb sucking in the development of skeletal open bite among the children.

A cross-sectional study was conducted by recruiting mothers of the children with habit of sucking thumb and aged between 2 years – 10 years. There was a great need of a well-established oral health education program for the Saudi pre-school children, mothers, teachers, and pediatricians for providing a better timely and effective care to these children with oral habits.

The findings have shown a great awareness among mothers about the development of thumb sucking habit, but lacks awareness about the development of thumb sucking after the use of pacifiers. They were also not aware about the development of dental issues due to the habit of thumb sucking. Majority of the patients have developed skeletal open bite cases due to the thumb sucking habit.

The findings indicated a significant impact of socio-demographic variables and habit of thumb sucking on the prevalence of open bite cases. There is a significant association between the habit of thumb sucking and development of skeletal open bite among the children.