Background
Digit
sucking is a common oral habit among many children, which involves
placing the thumb/finger into the mouth, which can cause malocclusion in
mixed and permanent dentition.
Aim
To
evaluate the efficacy of the RURS elbow guard in the management of
thumb-sucking habits in children with intellectual disabilities and
those without in terms of the mean duration of appliance therapy. The
secondary objective was to compare the RURS elbow guard with an
intraoral crib in healthy children (without intellectual disabilities)
to manage the habit of thumb-sucking.
Design
Children
with intellectual disabilities and those without between the age of 4
and 16 years were included in the study and categorised into three
groups, namely group I (50 normal children; intraoral crib appliance),
group II (50 normal children; RURS elbow guard) and group III (50
children with intellectual disabilities; RURS elbow guard).
Results
The
mean duration of appliance therapy for groups I, II and III were
200.20 ± 20.43 days, 204.34 ± 20.56 days, and 218.43 ± 15.66 days,
respectively (p < 0.001). The differences in the mean duration
between group I and group II were statistically non-significant, with
statistically significant differences between group I and group III (p < 0.001) and between group II and group III (p < 0.05).
Conclusion
The
RURS elbow guard was found to be an efficient appliance in treating
thumb-sucking among children who had mild to moderate intellectual
disabilities. RURS elbow guard was equally efficient as an intraoral
crib appliance in managing thumb-sucking habits in children without
intellectual disabilities.
Comments