title: Fingers in mouths: from cause to management.
abstract: Digit sucking is a habit that occurs in childhood and can lead to malocclusion if it persists for a long time. Understanding the cause and available management approaches for habit cessation can lead to more positive outcomes for clinicians, parents and children alike. Increasing clinicians' awareness of the causes and management of digit sucking behaviours can aid in their effective and systematic management, thereby reducing the risk of future malocclusion in some individuals.
authors.affiliation: Discipline of Orthodontics, Department of Oral Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin.
authors.forename: Shahrzad
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khayami
authors.forename: Florence
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bennani
authors.forename: Mauro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Farella
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D005386:Fingersucking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008310:Malocclusion / Q000209:etiology; D009520:New Zealand / Q000453:epidemiology; D009967:Orthodontic Appliances; D015995:Prevalence