Thumb sucking

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My son Lucien is 5 1/2 years old. He has sucked his thumb since he was a tiny baby. Today we took him to the dentist to get his teeth cleaned & checked out. She said his two top front teeth have been pushed forward by him sucking his thumb. She also said these two teeth are starting to get wobbly ready for the adult teeth to come in. She said we MUST stop him from sucking his thumb or his adult teeth will be crooked. This could be a major problem. I have never had a problem with him sucking his thumb. My husband (who has always had perfect teeth) did it until he was 8, he just grew out of it & I was thinking Lucien would be the same. Lucien mainly sucks his thumb when he's asleep or in the afternoon when he's tired & lying on the lounge after kinder. My problems are that I don't want to make him feel bad for sucking his thumb. I don't want to traumatise or bully him into giving it up. How can I stop him when he mainly does it when he's asleep? Anyone else been in the same situation?