Q: My 3-year-old sucks his thumb. Should I be worried about future tooth damage?
A: According to Richard Udin, D.D.S., program director of pediatric dentistry at the USC School of Dentistry, a large percentage of infants will either suck their finger or a pacifier. “Most children will stop the habit by the time they enter preschool or kindergarten—which can be attributed to the child becoming more socially conscious that other children are not using the pacifier in school—although some children will persist in sucking a finger past that time,” he says. Udin says parents should become concerned if the habit persists when the permanent incisors erupt at age six. Problems in the development of teeth can be related to the frequency, intensity and duration of the habit, he points out. “Children who continue to use pacifiers or suck their fingers for long periods of time and exert excessive pressure can develop problems with the alignment of the upper and lower teeth,” Udin says. “Parents might notice the upper teeth begin to flare outward and the lower teeth are pushed inward.”
Q: I’ve read that doing mental exercises can help stave off Alzheimer’s. Is there any truth to this?
A: There is no evidence that any mental activity staves off Alzheimer’s, says Elizabeth Zelinski, Ph.D., the Rita and Edward Polusky Chair in Education and Aging at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. “If it were true, people in mentally challenging jobs would not get it, but President Reagan was diagnosed with it, and I think we can be quite sure that his job was very mentally stimulating!” she says. However, some scientists do think that people who are very intelligent and who challenge themselves mentally have more cognitive reserve. The idea of cognitive reserve is sort of like money in the bank, says Zelinksi. You won’t be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or other diseases of cognitive decline until you deplete your reserve, reaching a certain threshold below which you can’t compensate for losses. At this time, no particular activity seems to be more beneficial than others for building cognitive reserve, says Zelinski. |
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