Tongue Sucking Habit Among Children And Adults
- You all have heard about the problem of thumb sucking, and finger sucking among children but you never listened to the problem of tongue sucking. Basically, it is a habit developed from childhood or this problem can be developed later also.
- It seems like you are sucking a lollipop, candy or lozenge. It is not one of the good habits. It should be diagnosed in the early ages of the children otherwise, after the expected age (when the children drop these kinds of habits on their own) it would be a complex process to correct these habits.
Oral Habits
- There are some habits which are developed among children from childhood from the age of above 3 years and usually disappear at the age of 1 or 2 years.
- Oral habits are of two types one is useful habits (nasal breathing, deglutition i.e. problems with swallowing, correct tongue posture)and the other is non-useful habits ( mouth breathing, lip biting, thumb sucking). Tongue sucking is one of the habits among the above-mentioned in useful and non-useful habits.
Sucking Habits
Sucking Habits are divided into two categories namely Nutritive Sucking Habits such as Breastfeeding, Bottle feeding and other is non-nutritive sucking Habits such as Thumb sucking, Pacifier Sucking, Finger sucking, and Tongue sucking.
Here we are talking about one of the Non- nutritive sucking habits which is tongue sucking. This provides warmth and security to the child at an early age. This habit is adopted by a child at an early age to satisfy their urge and needs, they are doing it unknowingly but later it becomes a part of their behavioral habits.
Some of the etiological factors responsible for oral habits are family disputes, competition, the burden of studies, lack of parental support, and irritation linked with tooth eruption.
Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders (OMD's)
Sometimes this habit develops and gradually converts to a disorder that results in improper functioning of muscles and structure of the face and mouth.
It affects several other functions of the mouth such as chewing food, swallowing it, problems in delivery of speech, and oral development. It promotes other habits such as Nail biting, thumb sucking, and finger sucking which can be treated on time.
Malocclusion
Malocclusion is also termed as ‘bad bites’. It is the situation when your teeth are not aligned properly and this problem also occurs when the jaws are small as compared to the length of your teeth resulting in when you close your mouth your upper and lower teeth are not aligned. The main cause of this problem is tongue sucking and thumb sucking which intervenes in the growth of or we can say development of mouth structure.
Sensory Stimulation
It refers to the activation of the senses. It is like the comfort zone for a person in which he used to live. Tongue sucking is generally an expression in starting of the age and gradually this expression converts into a habit that stays for a long time.
And later becomes a comfort level for the individual. This habit is like thumb sucking, nail biting, or sucking pacifiers especially designed for babies.
Habit Reversal Therapy
Habit Reversal Therapy is a very well-known therapy or we can say a technique used for changing behavioral habits. In this therapy, the first step is to identify the cause of the habit and then the second step is to find other ways to replace the bad habits with the alternatives which are healthier.
Awareness training is also provided along with reinforcement of new habits. Social support to indulge in new healthier habits. It is one of the best treatments to overcome problems like tongue sucking, thumb sucking, nail-biting, and hair pulling.
Anxiety and stress relief
We usually see some people who are in anxiety, tap their feet continuously, some twingle their fingers, and some people gnash in anger. These are some habits, we generally notice in some people. Tongue sucking is also one of these habits which people use to come up with their anxiety or stress.
Difficulty in speech
Tongue sucking for a long time affects the speech of the child, as this habit in a long go converts into a disorder that slows down the process of proper functioning of the development of mouth activities like chewing, and swallowing.
Problem in open bite and cross bite
Tongue sucking affects the development of open bite and cross bite. While sucking, the tongue exerts pressure on the front teeth which creates a hindrance in making contact with the opposite teeth, resulting in a gap between the incisors when we close jaws, this is called open bite.
The other problem is a cross bite, the problem of cross bite is created when the tongue exerts pressure on the side teeth i.e. molars which leads to misalignment of teeth between the upper and lower jaw when the jaws are closed, resulting in the problem of crossbite.
Tongue sucking leads to Hyperplasia
The term hyperplasia is derived from two Greek words: “huper” whose meaning is over and “plasis“, whose meaning is formation. The problem of tongue sucking leads to the enlargement of organs or tissues. It causes an increase in cells. A continuous habit of sucking the tongue leads to the problem of expanding the tongue cells.
How to prevent your child from tongue sucking
Do you know when a child practices the tongue-sucking habit? A child usually sucks tongue when:
- He gets bored off
- Feel left from parents, relatives, cousins and friends
- Before sleep
- When he gets habitual of the habit of tongue sucking after the expected age
In order to overcome this habit of sucking-tongue, parents must take some steps to prevent their children from the implications of this oral habit. According to some experts, the following are some pieces of advice. which the parents of the upcoming generation can rely on, these are:
- Stop him from tongue-sucking with great care and love
- Engage your child in his hobbies like painting, indoor/outdoor games, quizzes, and recreational activities
- Spend time with your children
- Try to make them sleep by singing lullabies, and narrating interesting stories, and also you can tell them favorite moments of your childhood
- Playing soothing song
- By setting reminders
Time to consult to doctor
Do you remember your childhood?, when you used to take thumb in your mouth, means to say, when you suck your thumb, what your mother or father used to say. I know, you smiled, yes or yes. Some of the mothers used to say I will put some chillies on your thumb or some mothers be like i will take you to the doctor, he will give you injection o cut your thumb. In today’s era these approaches are used by some parents by watching their parents.
You should also know the right time to contact doctor. The habit of sucking tongue is also a oral habit like thumb sucking or nail biting which generally lasts long till the age of 2-3 years. But after that if your child doesn’t leave this habit after so much try then you can take some necessary steps for the betterment of your child. These are:
- You can take help of your family doctor, he will assist you with guidance, some exercises, with therapy treatments. The doctor will find the reason of tongue sucking and treat your child accordingly.
- You can go to a child specialist, child specialists are proficient in child care areas and are very well aware of the facts of oral habits. They know according to what age, which therapy will be beneficial for your child and provides you with a variety of effective methods and also help your child to get know the disadvantages of the habit of tongue sucking.
If the behavioral habit of tongue-sucking affects your child’s speech, then you can contact a speech specialist also. A speech specialist will help your child with speech clearance and provide you with alternative methods to get rid of the problem of tongue sucking. It becomes hard sometimes for some children to get rid of this problem, you may go for several approaches together for better results.
- You can also take the help of your Dentist can help you out in align your teeth and provide you with methods to control the problem of tongue sucking.
After the expected time you need to watch your child whether he or she is engaging in the activity of sucking his or her tongue or not. If your child is habitual with tongue-sucking, then you need to take the right steps at the right time.
FAQ
Tongue sucking is one of the oral habits which develops in the early age of childhood and can develop in adults also, later on, develop as a behavioral habit that must be cured after the expected time. Parents must regularly watch the habits of their children so that they know the cause of their habits which helps in removing the habit. If this habit extends to the age of 3 or 4 years then you should consult any pediatrician.
Generally, the habit of Tongue-sucking develops in the age of early childhood and can continue till adulthood if ignored. In children, this habit can develop as an oral habit like thumb-sucking, or nail-biting. Many children, after the expected age, leave this habit on their own but some of them make this habit their one of their behavioral habits. Later on, they adopt these habits when they have a fear of something, when they feel nervous, or when they get angry. But it’s not a good habit, it looks weird when someone notices your habit so, as soon as you realize your habit then consult your doctor because these oral habits will affect you for a long time in a harmful manner.
The habit of tongue-sucking can be broken in children with the help of the parents. Parents play a vital role in the growth and development of their children, so they must know about the habits of their children, and what habits they are adopting in their childhood when they should leave the habit so that it could not become their habitual habit. You can adopt some home remedies so that they can stop sucking their tongue at the right time. The home remedies are like stopping them from doing this by making them engage in other activities. Spend ample time with your children. If such home remedies can’t work then, walk to the pediatrician/doctor or speech specialist if your child is facing difficulty in speech delivery.
The habit of tongue-sucking is also common in adults as a behavioral habit. You must seen some adults tap their legs and believe they come to know that they are tapping their legs when somebody tells them to stop as they adopt this behavioral habit and they get habitual of doing this for their own cause, these causes must be like when they are nervous, scared, when they stuck in some hurdle. When they realize their habit of sucking their tongue, they should try to cure the habit on their own. Bubble gum or chewing gum can work as a supporter in initial time, you can put regular alarms on your phone to check your repetition of doing and it will help you to stop by alarming you. Otherwise, you can consult your dentist, he will help you by telling you some mouth exercises which you can do it on your own.
Yes, Tongue-sucking is harmful to the overall development of your mouth. While tongue sucking, you rub your tongue on the upper or side parts of the mouth, due to rubbing, the upper and side parts of the mouth peel off, which results in mouth ulcers that might be painful. You can also hurt your tongue while sucking your tongue. Not only this, it shows you the way to the dentist as well, because it causes open and crossbite and affects the alignment of your teeth in the upper and lower jaw which can be seen when you close your jaws and it will also create difficulty in speech. So be careful if you adopt this habit and must stop your child from doing this.