Pacifiers can be a wonderful soothing tool for babies, but they do come with significant oral/dental risks when not used properly.

This includes things like an overbite, underbite, misaligned teeth, changes in the roof of the mouth and other quite severe issues.

In this video you'll learn how to safely use a pacifier to avoid these issues while still getting the benefits that come with pacifier use.

You'll also learn about orthodontic pacifiers and whether they are really helpful, and how to transition between pacifiers if needed.

Plus I share the results of a fascinating study that compared the teeth alignment of children who used conventional pacifiers, orthodontic pacifiers and no pacifiers at all.

The Dangers of Pacifier Use (And How to Avoid Them)

First Step To Minimize Dental Problems Due To Pacifier Use

Although pacifiers can be lifesavers, parents are often well aware of the potential dental issues that can result due to pacifier use.

These include an overbite, an underbite, misaligned teeth, changes in the roof of the mouth, as well as other issues.

The good news is that it's possible to give your baby a pacifier, yet avoid the problems it can cause by following these five simple steps.

The best way to prevent the negative effects of pacifier use is early weaning.

The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians recommend weaning children from pacifiers in the second six months of life to reduce the risk of ear infections.

I also recommend ceasing the use of a pacifier at this age for a number of reasons.

Firstly, at six months of age, babies generally have the ability to fall asleep without the use of a pacifier, and therefore they don't require them to fall asleep.

Also, at this age, babies can become really dependent on pacifiers to fall asleep, and this can result in the pacifier starting to negatively influence a baby's sleep and result in more frequent night wakings, as well as shorter naps.

Secondly, constantly sucking on a pacifier when awake stops a baby from being able to mouth toys, which is how they actually play at six months of age, and it makes it more challenging for the baby to make those cooing noises and start to babble, which are the early stages of developing one's communication skills.

And this can negatively influence their fine motor development as well as their language development.

Thirdly, baby start teething around this age and they may accidentally pierce or break the pacifier when they chew on them in an attempt to alleviate that teething pain.

And lastly, which I think is the most important factor, it is generally easier to remove a pacifier at this age compared to removing a pacifier from a toddler.

Second Step To Minimize Dental Problems Due To Pacifier Use

Now, if you don't want to remove the pacifier at six months of age and it's not having a negative impact on your little one's sleep, then the next thing you want to do is plan to wean your baby off the pacifier by two years of age.

Research shows that adverse dental effects can be seen in children who continue to use the pacifier after two years of age, with the most significant malocclusions occurring in children who continue to use the pacifier past four years of age.

Warren and team clearly illustrated these findings in their study, which showed that only 14% of children had misaligned teeth if they ceased sucking before two years of age, compared to 32% of children who had misaligned teeth if they ceased sucking between three and four years of age, and then there were 71% of children who had misaligned teeth if they continue to suck past four years of age.

Therefore, to reduce the likelihood of your little one developing dental issues, definitely plan to ween them off the pacifier before two years of age.

Third Step To Minimize Dental Problems Due To Pacifier Use

Now, before we cover the next best thing you can do to minimize the risk of your little one developing dental problems in the future, if you haven't already, make sure you click on the link in the description box below to get the free developmental milestone chart so you'll know what to expect in regards to your baby's development in that first year of life.

In addition to age, we also know that the intensity and frequency of the sucking can heavily influence whether or not dental problems occur in the future.

Therefore, another really simple way that you can minimize the risk of your little one developing severe dental problems in the future is by limiting their use of the pacifier.

And by that I mean giving your child a pacifier to use when they need it for soothing, like during nap times and bedtimes.

Fourth Step To Minimize Dental Problems Due To Pacifier Use

Now, if your baby is very attached to their pacifier and usually has it the whole day, you may need to take a more gradual approach.

And first remove the pacifier from environments where your child is generally happy, but keep using it in environments which they find a little bit stressful.

So for example, if your child is at home, happy and playing, you might remove that pacifier, but continue to offer the pacifier when they're traveling in the car or they're outside.

Then once they become comfortable with this, you might only offer the pacifier for nap times or bedtime.

Now, if you cannot or do not want to stop your baby from using a pacifier in their second six months of life, you can consider switching to using an orthodontic pacifier.

Orthodontic pacifiers have rounded tops and a flat bottom that are meant to help minimize the risk of a child developing dental issues, by not interfering with the normal development of their jaw bone and their palate.

However, before you consider switching pacifiers, which often isn't easy, it's important to note that research indicates prolonged use of any pacifier, including orthodontic pacifiers, can lead to a child developing misalignment of their teeth.

And this finding was supported in a randomized control trial which was completed by Adair and his team, where they actually compared the teeth alignment of two year old children all the way up to five year old children who had actually just used the orthodontic pacifiers, and they compared their teeth alignment against the children who had used just those conventional pacifiers, as well as against children who had no sucking habits.

And in this study, they found out two things.

Firstly, the children who used any kind of pacifier, so whether or not that was that orthodontic pacifier or the conventional pacifiers, were more likely to develop dental problems in the future when they were compared with the children who had no sucking habits.

They also found that the children who used those orthodontic pacifiers were more likely to have a less severe overbite when they were compared to the children who used the conventional pacifiers.

However, the measurement of the overbite difference was less than 0.

5 millimeters, so it's not significant.

So it's important to remember that simply switching to an orthodontic pacifier or only using an orthodontic pacifier is not going to stop your little one from developing dental problems in the future.

Fifth Step To Minimize Dental Problems Due To Pacifier Use

Using alternative methods to comfort your baby or toddler before offering them a pacifier is also another way that you can help to minimize the risk of your child developing dental problems in the future.

Now, don't get me wrong, in the newborn phase, up until six months of age, sucking on a pacifier is an extremely effective way to soothe a fussing or crying baby, and should definitely be used.

But after six months of age, you'll notice that your child will start to cry and fuss to communicate something to you.

So for example, they might start crying when they're lying on their back under the play gym to let you know that they're bored.

Or they might start fussing because they're hungry.

And as they become toddlers, they might start crying because they can't work out how to play with a toy, but stop as soon as you help them.

In these everyday situations, it's important to work out what your little one is communicating to you and address the underlying issue, rather than defaulting to popping that pacifier into their mouth to quieten them down.

So for example, if your toddler becomes upset because you need to leave the playground, instead of giving them the pacifier, you could give them a cuddle and say, it's hard leaving the park, do you want to cuddle or do you want to cuddle your snuggy? Teaching your child a new way to cope with those big emotions like sadness, frustration, and anger, instead of actually using a pacifier as a first line of defense will reduce the amount of time your little one sucks on the pacifier throughout the day.

And this will reduce the likelihood of them developing dental problems in the future.

Now, if you are ready to ditch the pacifier, but not sure how to go about it, then make sure you watch this article next to find out how to ditch the pacifier for good with minimal fuss.

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