Hi. I am new to the community and a mum of a 10-year old boy who is neurodiverse - diagnosed autistic with ADHD.
He has sucked two fingers since he was in the womb and manages to do most activities whilst sucking. He knows it is damaging his adult teeth but he can’t seem to stop.
I have tried the horrible-tasting nail varnish but he washes it off and doesn’t mind the taste, I have tried using surgical tape to tape up one finger with another but he pulls it off subconsciously. At night he has a sock over his entire hand and that works for a bit but again he pulls it off. I am really concerned that he will move to a larger school in eight months where he will be bullied.
We have other consequences - the threadworms we can medicate against but after years of treatment the medicine is less effective. It is his teeth and upper palate that are the problem. He is deforming his upper palate so that it is becoming stretched and beak-shaped, whilst his adult front teeth are being pulled forwards and out. If he falls and hits his teeth on the ground then he is likely to break them or smash them out.
The dentist sent us to an orthodontist but they can’t do any work until he stops sucking - which I fear will never happen. We could pay £1000! for an appliance called a gate that would be fitted into his mouth and metal hangs down from the roof to stop him being able to fit his fingers in. I fear this will cause distress, problems eating and that he will become desperate to have it removed. He would need the gate fitted now so that it is removed in eight months for secondary school.
He sucks his fingers when tired, when focussing on work or computer games, and if his fingers aren’t in his mouth he likes the feeling of his hands on his mouth, or doing other stims such as nose picking, eye rubbing or knuckle cracking.
I have bought numerous rubbery things that are designed for chewing on to help with oral stimulation but he doesn’t like them. Chewing on sweets / gum continuously may help but that is not allowed in school and would cause other dental problems.
Has anyone any advice please? Anything that has stopped or diverted attention from finger sucking to something else. I’d be grateful. Thank you.
