Oral habits: Considerations in management

Are bad oral habits a normal part of child development, a symptom of neuroses, or a cause of abnormal facial growth? Physicians and dentists often face questions like these from concerned parents, and they must be able to deal with this concern in order to effectively treat the child. Oral habits and related conditions are embroiled in controversy. Although such practices as digit-sucking, lip- and nail-biting, bruxism, and mouth-breathing are acknowledged to be common oral habits, current research seems to agree on little else. Data on etiology, age at onset, self-correction and treatment modalities vary greatly. We will look at the individual conditions that make up the area known as 'oral habits' to give the practitioner information on the types of problems one is likely to encounter and on the range of treatment modalities that are available. Discussion includes bruxism, digit-sucking habits, pacifier-sucking habits, fingernail biting, lip habits, mouth-breathing, and tongue-thrust.