Medical research proves that pacifiers are soothing oral substitutes.
Medical research proves that sucking is soothing.
Sucking on an unflavored pacifier is antinociceptive to infants, and this antinociception is enhanced by sucrose. Studies on pacification have been restricted to the newborn period and have neglected to address the effectiveness of pacification at older ages. For an adult in our society, thumbsucking is a deconditioned activity. Sucking on a cigarette is a disdained activity but is allowed. People who smoke, however, develop the habitual need to suck.