[Prevalence of non-nutritive sucking habits in preschoolers and parents' perception of its relationship with malocclusions].

This cross-sectional and descriptive study sought to verify the prevalence of sucking habits in preschoolers and their parents' perception of its relationship with the occurrence of malocclusion. The population consisted of a representative sample of parents of preschoolers aged between 4 months and 6 years old. A semi-structured, self-administered questionnaire was used, consisting of open and closed questions relating to frequency of use and knowledge of parents regarding non-nutritive sucking habits. Of the 356 respondents, 70.8% stated that the children had some oral habit, with pacifier sucking being the most frequent (45.6%). Although the majority (97.1%) of the parents or caregivers admitted being aware that these habits could be detrimental to teeth, 70.2% of the respondents had already offered a pacifier to children, in most cases to calm them (61.8%). There was a statistically significant association between offering a pacifier to a child and knowledge about the relationship of the existence of non-nutritive habits and the occurrence of malocclusion (p <0.0001 and Chi-square = 60.123). The conclusion is that the prevalence of oral habits of the population is high and, despite the majority of parents knowing that pacifier sucking can cause damage to oral health, they offer them to calm the child.