The Prevalence of Finger Sucking Habit Among Presch Ool Children in Kerman, Iran

Background and aim:the purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of finger sucking habit amongthree-six-year-old children from kindergartens of kerman, iran.methods:this descriptive, cross-sectional study used censussampling to select 1000 children from 40 kindergartens.data was collected by a checklist and clinical examination. chi-square test in spss16wasused for statistical analysis.results:the prevalence of finger sucking habit was 3.4%. there was no statistically significant relation betweengender and the habit. pacifier sucking habit was not an influencing factor in finger sucking habit. most children(47.06%) had received exclusive breastfeeding. anterior open bite was seen in 50.00% of the children with fingersucking habit.conclusions:this study showed the decreased prevalence of finger sucking habit compared to similar studies. thisdifference might have been caused by the type of feeding (about 50% of the children in the present study were breast-fed).