European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Oral habits are a result of frequent repetition of certain definitive sets of nerve impulses. The etiology of the development of oral habits include anatomical, mechanical, pathological, physiological, imitation or just plain behaviour. Commonly occuring oral habits include thumb sucking, tongue thrusting, mouth breathing, bruxism, finger biting, finger nail biting, cheek biting and masochism. Treatment may vary from different oral habits. The aim of this study is to investigate the gender difference in the development of oral habits among patients. Materials and methods: Data collection was done in a university setting.One hundred case records were reviewed from the time period of June 2019 to March 2020. Excel tabulation and SPSS Version 22 was used for data analysis. Results and discussion: There was no statistical significance between the variables that were analysed. (p-value>0.05) Conclusion: This study shows that there is no significant difference between gender and oral habit development.

Oral habits such as finger and thumb sucking, lip sucking, mouth breathing when used excessively or continuously can lead to poor dental health or malocclusion.The use of habit breaking appliances will restrict oral habits and prevent malocclusion. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence, gender and age distribution of usage of habit breaking appliances in the management of parafunctional oral habits. 44,100 patient records were reviewed from June 2019 to March 2020. Patients who had undergone treatment with habit breaking appliances were selected and their treatment details were obtained from the patient records to obtain the prevalence. Details on habits and habit breaking appliances were also noted and tabulated in excel and imported to SPSS. Descriptive statistics and chi square test were done. There was a statistical significance between age and habits breaking appliances (p<0.05). No statistical significance was noted between gender and appliance usage. Treatment with habit breaking appliances was more prevalent in males. Thumb sucking was the most prevalent habit among the studied population and tongue crib was the preferred choice of appliance.