Abstract
The thumb-sucking habit may be the direct cause of maxillary protrusion or openbite malocclusion. In patients with this habit, the malocclusion may become worse and the progress of the treatment may be arrested. So the thumb-sucking habit should be of primary clinical concern in orthodontic treatment.
To break the habit is difficult in a short time because the habit is a pattern of action that is acquired and becomes very automatic. The correction of the malocclusion is very important in the early stages for bringing about the normal functioning in young patients. Therefore, the habit-breaking treatment usually parallels the correction of malcoclusion.
We report here on a patient treated with a Bionator appliance who had severe primary maxillary protrusion with deep overbite and the thumb-sucking habit, and discuss the progress of elimination of the habit and the malocclusion, and the effect of the Bionator appliance.
