[Orthodontic therapy in the early childhood using pacifier?]

Dental malocclusions (open bite and lateral cross-bite) or functional disturbances (persistent infantile swallowing) in young children do not occur rarely. They are often induced or reinforced by oral habits, such as thumb sucking or bottle feeding. The aim of this case series is to show the effect of a new type of pacifier on the development of open bite, cross-bite or tongue dysfunction. Three cases selected from the case series are reported to describe the effect of early treatment through the pacifier on the above-mentioned malocclusions in the 2nd and 5th years of age. The longitudinal observation after 3, 9 and 24 months of use has shown that the open bite and the posterior cross-bite can be reduced. A shift from an infantile swallowing pattern to a mature one has also been observed. The results are promising: the method is simple and possibly cost-reducing. However, the limited number of cases presented does not support the reproducibility of the results. For this reason the reported observations have to be verified by a longitudinal study in a larger population.