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Are Sippy Cups to Blame for Crooked Teeth?
When children finish drinking from a bottle, a sippy cup becomes a parent’s closest friend. Your child may drink water, juice, milk, or any other beverage from a sippy cup without you having to worry about spillage.
However, while the convenience of a sippy cup is fantastic, if used wrongly, these cups can create major developmental concerns with your child’s mouth. Let’s talk about all you should know right now.
Sippy Cups can cause serious oral health problems if used for an extended period of time.
A sippy cup can cause the malformation of the hard palate, which can lead to malocclusion (bite difficulties) and crooked teeth if used inappropriately.
Why? Because your youngster will swallow wrongly if he or she uses a sippy cup. Consider how you would drink from a sippy cup. So that you can fit the spout into your mouth, your tongue will rest on the bottom of your mouth. After that, you suck from the spout and swallow while keeping your tongue on the bottom of your mouth.
The mechanics of a swallow are not like this. To get the liquid down your throat, raise your tongue to the roof of your mouth and behind your teeth when swallowing.
A sippy cup might make it much more difficult for your youngster to swallow properly by emphasizing poor swallowing mechanics. This can cause problems such as tongue thrusting, which can lead to crooked teeth, speech difficulties, and other problems later in life.
Sippy Cups Should Be Used For A Month Or Less As A Transitional Aid For Children.
Sippy cups have a place in the world. They’re a good way to ease your child into drinking from open cups, and they’re best utilized between the ages of 6 and 12 months when your child is starting to wean off of breastfeeding.
Sippy cups, on the other hand, should not be used after the age of 12 months, and it’s recommended to avoid using one for more than a month. To assist good oral growth, aim to urge your child to drink from open cups as much as possible during this time.
Sippy Cup Alternatives - 360° Sealed Drinking Cups.
What if your youngster simply refuses to drink from open cups? Is it still necessary to use a sippy cup? “No!” is the answer. Today, there are better options, such as WOW Gear’s WOW Cup.
This cup, like others like it, has a unique suction design that keeps liquids inside the cup while allowing your child to drink from all sides without a hard spout interfering with their oral development.
You may reduce spillage, encourage your child to transition to open cups sooner, and avoid the oral development difficulties that can be caused by chronic sippy cup use by using this product or a similar sealed drinking cup.
Protect Your Child's Oral Health by Limiting Sippy Cup Use!
The sippy cup is only designed to be used as a temporary substitute for your youngster learning to drink from an open cup. As your child learns to drink from open cups, make sure you avoid lengthy use or move to a 360° cup.
Do you have any other concerns regarding your child’s oral development or dental care? To schedule your child’s first dental appointment, please contact us online or give us a call.
