Monster Teeth

My boys are big time thumb suckers and there's no easy way to get to get them to stop. Austin's kindergarten teacher was the only person who could get him to voluntarily stop. They worked out a secret little finger-wiggling signal that she would do when he was sucking it. He would immediately take his thumb out of his mouth. I tried that at home, and he just laughed at me. So, I've pretty much given up trying to get them to stop. Nothing works, though people are happy to share thumb sucking stories with me (summation: nothing works till the kid is ready).

When the kids went to the dentist in January, the dentist finally said it's time for Austin to stop. After all, he'll be 8 at the end of the month. Since Austin is not willing to stop on his own, the dentist recommended an appliance (aka, monster teeth...as named by Richie). So, Austin went to the dentist a few weeks ago and had a mold made of his teeth. A week later, the appliance was ready to be glued in. It wasn't quite what I expected, but it seems to be working!

Initially, he had a hard time eating and talking. He eats fine now, but still slurs his words a little. The first night he had it in, his finger was constantly in his mouth touching it. He hasn't sucked his thumb in quite a while now. Once he's gone a month without sucking it, they'll cut it down a little so it's not so in the way. After another month of not sucking his thumb, the dentist will take it out (but hold onto it for a couple more months in case he regresses). All in all, I'm happy with the results. FYI: The appliance is $350 and most insurances (like mine) don't cover it.