It is estimated that 18% of children between the ages of 2-6 suck their thumb. Researchers have learned that thumb sucking occurs mostly in western culture, where kids generally begin to spend time away from their mothers at an early age. It calms and comforts the child when they need it, but it can also cause future dental issues. It’s a hard habit to break, but we can help! Our office has a postive and motivational game, called “THE THUMB GAME”. It is a reward-based system that is fun for the patient and has a high success rate. We give the patient a calendar (to put on the refrigerator), stickers, and popcicle sticks. The patient is asked to tape a popcicle stick to their thumb at night, and if it is still there in the morning then they get to put a sticker on the calendar for that day. At the end of a time period (a week, month, etc), the child can be rewarded with a toy, special dinner, or fun activity. The patient will come back to our office after a month for us to check their progress. If the patient has reached their goal, we also reward the child with positive praise and a gift! This is an awesome accomplishment and deserves a celebration! -Lindi