My baby is 17mths old and has been on pacifier since 4 mths old. He only uses when he sleeps but I noticed that he is starting to have bugs bunny teeth. Is it because of the pacifier?

The older generations have always said that pacifiers will cause the teeth to grow as such but online articles seems to suggest differently. It is said that thumb sucking or sucking a pacifier (suckafier according to my 7 year old daughter) will not cause any effects on the teeth unless it's prolonged sucking into toddler years. Both my sister and I were given pacifiers and while my sister has perfectly nice set of teeth, mine is just horrible so I don't think pacifiers are the cause of your child's bunny teeth since he only takes his to sleep.

Like what Nooraini mentioned, pacifier use during the first few years of a baby's life is unlikely to cause any permanent "damage" to the baby's teeth. However, if the habit continues after the baby teeth has fell off and the permanent teeth start emerging, then there may be some impact on the teeth. In fact, thumb sucking will have the same effect. But at 17 months, you shouldn't be too worried. Usually, a child will wean off pacifier (or thumb sucking) before the permanent set of teeth starts growing.

Extended pacifier use can lead to an anterior open bite (where the top front teeth don’t meet the bottom front teeth) or a cross-bite (when the upper row of teeth hangs down inside the lower teeth, rather than outside). But if it’s a passive use of a soother (meaning the child uses it for naps and nighttimes only), there may not be any dental effects at all.

I think for now, the only way would be to wean your baby from his pacifier. If he is only using it at bedtime, perhaps you can introduce another comfort item for him to associate sleep with?

So is there anything I can do to prevent bugs bunny teeth from growing or becoming even more pronounced?