Background and Aim: Oral habits have hazardous effects on children&aposs speech which are sometimes irreversible and permanent. This study was planned to assess these oral habits among children in day-care centers of Tehran, Iran.
Methods: In this descriptive, cross-sectional study, 400 children were selected through multistage sampling from 16 day-care centers in Tehran, Iran, They were 24 to 72-month old. Bottle feeding, pacifier usage and digit sucking were determined. After interviewing parents, oral examination [using Paediatric oral skills package (POSO)] and doing standard Phonetic test, a questionnaire was completed for each child.
Results: Sixty eight had one oral habit. The most prevalent habit was digit sucking (52.9%). The prevalence of bottle feeding, both digit sucking with bottle feeding, and pacifier habit were 38.2%, 7.3% and 1.4%, respectively. There were significant relationship between digit sucking and malocclusion (p<0.001, r=0.4) and hard palate malformationand (p<0.001, r=0.39). Besides, a significant relationship between bottle feeding and  malocclusion (p<0.001, r=0.25) was conduted. Digit sucking had significant relationship with lisping, too (p<0.001, r=0.37). There was no gender priority in oral habits.
Conclusion: Oral habits cause permanent structural conversion in speech producing and oral status.