Introduction:

deforming oral habits cause dentmaxillofacial anomalies (ADMF)) interfering in growth, normal development of the stomatognathic apparatus. Digital sucking is one of them and constitutes risk factors that can affect the development of the stomatognathic system.

Objective:

to characterize the behavior of FODM caused by digital suction in children six-eight years old with digital suction habit, belonging to the elementary schools "Juventud de Acero" and "Mártires del Goicuría" of the municipality of Caimito, 2022.

Methods:

An observational, longitudinal study was conducted in a simple random sample, universa of 1289 children aged six, seven and eight years old, Caimito. The children were surveyed, examined, using the following variables: digital sucking, age, sex, ADMF, frequency, intensity.

Results:

finger sucking behavior showed high values with 37,2 %; the female sex presented 54,8 %, there are tendencies to show overprotection in girls reflecting differences in child rearing according to gender. A 94,3 % of children with digital sucking presented ADMF, interfering in the transversal and sagittal development of the dentomaxillofacial structure, slowing down development potential, growth and physiology. The greatest ADMF were vestibuleversion of upper incisors with 94,6 %, and anterior open bite with 93,2 %. The 95,3 % who manifest continuous frequency in the habit present ADMF and accentuated intensity in 97,9 %.

Conclusions:

digital sucking was present in most of the children studied, with the female sex prevailing; the majority showed ADMF, mainly vestibuleversion of the upper incisors and anterior open bite; the greater the frequency and intensity of digital sucking, the greater the ADMF presented.

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