KHTS Radio Santa Clarita Radio – Santa Clarita News
A Santa Clarita orthodontist said she’s recently been inundated with questions about orthodontic pacifiers and potential problems related to babies sucking their thumbs, so is offering her professional opinion when it comes to pediatric orthodontics.
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Dr. Megan LeCornu of Gilbertson and LeCornu Orthodontics explained that orthodontic pacifiers are flat on the bottom and curved on the top.
“They’re basically shaped and designed to kind of help facilitate the eruption of the teeth, in theory,” she said. “It’s supposed to kind of reduce the development of open bites or overbites, things like that.”
Related: Santa Clarita Orthodontist Encourages Adults To Consider Straightening Their Teeth
LeCornu didn’t elaborate on the effectiveness of these pacifiers, but instead continued on to say that “the big thing to know” is actually about the tendency of babies to suck their thumbs, and the potential problems this can cause down the line in terms of the teeth and jaw.
The American Association of Pediatric Dentistry recommends parents stop pacifier habits by the age of one so as not to interfere with the development of the teeth, according to LeCornu, but LeCornu believes that the use of pacifiers in babies under age one is better than allowing a baby to suck his or her thumb.
“A pacifier is better than a thumb, and the reason for that is that thumb habits are more challenging to break — a thumb is something that you can’t really just take away,” LeCornu said with a laugh. “So thumb habits can be really problematic.”
Toddlers who suck their thumbs while their teeth are developing are potentially at risk of “severe” future problems, according to LeCornu.
“It can cause problems in the development of the upper jaw,” she said. “So we start getting posterior crossbites developing, we can get open bites developing — and these are things that we do need to intervene early, usually around the age of seven, to correct. Otherwise, the jaw may not develop properly.”
It is recommended by the American Association of Orthodontics that children see an orthodontist for the first time at 7 years old, according to LeCornu.
“That’s just so we can monitor the eruption of the teeth, make sure things are coming in how they’re supposed to,” LeCornu said, noting that her office offers the “Grin Gang Kids’ Club” so children can participate in contests, get t-shirts and more. “We try to make it fun for them, but really what’s happening is we’re really just monitoring the development of their teeth and we’re intervening if we need to.”
Ed. Note: This article is a KHTS Community Spotlight based on a recent radio interview with Gilbertson and LeCornu Orthodontics.
Dr. Steven Gilbertson and Dr. Megan LeCornu have a solid reputation in the community as the premiere Santa Clarita orthodontists for children, teenagers and adults using Invisalign and traditional braces. Together, they strive to provide orthodontic excellence and five-star customer service in a friendly, caring environment that makes each patient feel like a member of their family. Each a trusted orthodontist, Santa Clarita residents have voted Gilbertson and LeCornu Orthodontics “best orthodontist” for eight years.
Gilbertson and LeCornu Orthodontics
23206 Lyons Avenue, Suite 206
Santa Clarita, CA 91321
(661) 259-2388
