How to stop son from putting stuff in mouth?

My son in almost 3 and we recently got him off the pacifier (a little over a month ago). The first day was bad, but from then on it was no big deal, He went to bed fine and never really asked for it. Better than we imagined. But since then, he has been putting anything and everything in his mouth, mostly his hands. I have read everything from its normal at this age, to he needs occupational therapy for oral sensory disorder. I don't want to be that mom that is always thinking something bad is wrong and he needs to be medicated. But on the other hand, I know it is normal, but my son has never had this problem until we let go of the pacifier. He always knew his toys did not belong in his mouth, only food and drink and at that point his pacifier. Now I cant even leave him alone for a second, scared that a part of a toy will go down his throat or something. Even worse, his hands are always nasty with slobber and just dripping wet. It seems like every 10 seconds me and his dad are saying get it out of your mouth. It's nonstop. I have even threatened to put hot sauce on his hand, not that i ever have or prob will never even do, and he will scream no and take his hand/toy out, but within seconds it is right back in. Its like he has no self control or something. We thought he would just out grow it, you know just getting use to being off the pacifier, but it seems to be getting worse. There are days that I just think I would rather him be on pacifier than this. And even when he was on pacifier, it wasn't an all day thing, only nap and bed time, and the only other time he had it was if he was really upset or fussy. Any suggestions on how to break this habit, or could it really be something more? I don't think anything is wrong with him because he is very smart for his age.