{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,31]],"date-time":"2026-08-31T20:15:09Z","timestamp":1788207309740,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,14]],"date-time":"2026-01-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1768348800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Catholic University of Valencia, Spain"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Dentistry Journal"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: Malocclusion is one of the most prevalent oral health concerns in paediatric dentistry, with anterior open bite (AOB) and posterior crossbite (PCB) being among the most common forms. Non-nutritive sucking habits (NNSHs), including digit-sucking habits (DSHs) and pacifier-sucking habits (PSHs), have been linked to malocclusion development. While both habits are known to impact dental and skeletal development, their comparative effects remain unclear. This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to determine the difference in the development and prevalence of anterior open bite and posterior crossbite between patients with digit-sucking and pacifier-sucking habits. Materials and Methods: An exhaustive review of the literature was conducted on the 25 November 2024 across three databases, namely EBSCOhost (including PubMed-Medline), Web of Science and Scopus. The following PICO question was constructed for the systematic review: \u201cIn children and teenagers, is there a difference in the development and prevalence of malocclusions (Anterior Open bite &amp; Posterior Crossbite) between patients with a history of digit sucking habits and patients with a history of pacifier sucking habits?\u201dA meta-analysis was also performed with the selected studies, and the software used to carry out the meta-analysis was R 4.3.1 (R Core Team (2023)). Results: From the initial search, 102 articles were found and a further 11 articles were obtained from manual findings. 12 articles were included in the final systematic review and meta-analysis. The meta-analysis indicated that the risk of AOB and PCB was increased by both DSH and PSH. Conclusions: Both DSH and PSH significantly increased the risk of AOB and PCB. PSH posed a significantly higher risk than DSH for PCB development (OR = 2.66, p &lt; 0.001), while no significant difference in AOB prevalence was observed between DSH and PSH (OR = 1.77, p = 0.150).<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/dj14010055","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,14]],"date-time":"2026-01-14T09:03:10Z","timestamp":1768381390000},"page":"55","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["The Role of Digit- and Pacifier-Sucking Habits on Malocclusion Development in Children: Anterior Open Bite and Posterior Crossbite\u2014A Systematic Review &amp; Meta-Analysis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Arvin","family":"Faryad","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine and Health Science, Catholic University of Valencia (UCV), C\/Quevedo, 2, 46001 Valencia, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-1615-9757","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Susana","family":"Muwaquet Rodriguez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Science, Catholic University of Valencia (UCV), C\/Quevedo, 2, 46001 Valencia, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9184-621X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tawfiq","family":"Hijazi Alsadi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Orthodontics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Science, Catholic University of Valencia (UCV), C\/Quevedo, 2, 46001 Valencia, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ling, H.T.B., Sum, F.H.K.M.H., Zhang, L., Yeung, C.P.W., Li, K.Y., Wong, H.M., and Yang, Y. 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