Malocclusion and Sucking Habits of Four‐year‐old Children

Summary In an unselected population of 4‐year‐old children, 66.4% were found to have mal‐occlusion, and 10.7% were considered in need of treatment by an orthodontist. Previous or present sucking habits were reported for 77.9% of the children. 10.7% still used a dummy, 30.1% were sucking on their fingers and 13.2% used both dummy and fingers. A strong statistical connection was found between sucking habits and malocclusion, most pronounced for dummy‐sucking. No difference in mean caries index was found between children with and without malocclusion. Significantly more caries was demonstrated in dummy‐sucking children than in finger‐sucking children, but these differences could be explained by other environmental factors.