Oral habits are habits that children frequently acquire that may either temporarily or permanently be harmful to dental occlusion and to the supporting structures.

Oral habits can be any of the following

• Thumb Sucking
• Tongue Thrusting
• Mouth Breathing
• Bruxism(Tooth Grinding)
• Lip Biting
• Cheek Biting
• Nail Biting

Thumb Sucking

Thumb Sucking is the placement of the thumb into various depths into the mouth.

Treatment

• Psychological Therapy: Screen the patient for underlying psychological disturbance that sustain thumb sucking habit
• Mechanotherapy

Through intra oral anti-thump sucking appliances which can be either fixed (e.g.:-Palatal Crib, Blue Grass Appliance) or removable (e.g.:-Thumb Guard)

Tongue Thrusting

Tongue thrusting is the forward movement of tongue tip between the teeth to meet the lower lip during swallowing and in sounds of speech, so that tongue becomes thrusting

Treatment

• Anti Tongue Thrust Appliance(Palatal Crib)

Mouth Breathing

Mouth breathing is the habitual breathing through the mouth instead of the nose

Treatment

• Oral screen: To prevent the air entering the oral cavity
• Surgery: If nasal or pharyngeal obstruction has been diagnosed then removal of the cause is done by the surgery
• Physical exercise

Bruxism

Bruxism is grinding of the teeth and is usually reported to occur while sleeping

Treatment

• Psychotherapy: aimed to lower the emotional disturbance
• Occlusal splints/night guards
• Restorative Treatment
• Drugs:Tranquilizers,Local anaesthetic injections,Muscle relaxants
• Electro galvanic stimulation for muscle relaxation

Lip Habits

Lip habits are habits that involve manipulation of the lips and perioral structures

Treatment

• Lip Protector
• Lip Bumper Appliance
• Visual education