Changes in vertical dentofacial morphology after adeno-/tonsillectomy during deciduous and mixed dentitions mouth breathing children--1 year follow-up study.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this 1 year follow-up study was to investigate, in mouth breathing children, the impact of respiration normalization on vertical dentofacial growth during two stages of dental development after adeno-/tonsillectomy. METHOD: Linear and angular cephalometric measurements, as well as tracing superimposition of serial lateral cephalograms of 39 patients in the treatment group were compared with those of 31 untreated mouth breathing controls. Cephalometric records in the treatment group comprised registrations made at baseline before surgery (T(0)), and then at approximately 1 year post-operatively (T(1)). Corresponding registrations were available for the control group, with a baseline cephalometric radiograph taken approximately 1 year before the second one (T(0) and T(1), respectively). Treatment and untreated groups were divided into deciduous and mixed dentition groups to aid the identification of an optimum timing for normalizing the respiration after T&A, under a vertical dentofacial perspective. RESULTS: After 1 year of follow up, no statistically significant difference on vertical dentofacial growth was observed in deciduous or mixed dentitions treatment groups compared to the same occlusal developmental stage of untreated control groups. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that regarding the vertical dentofacial growth pattern normalization of the mode of respiration after T&A in young children (deciduous dentition) is not more effective than in older children (mixed dentition).

Prevalence of malocclusion among mouth breathing children: do expectations meet reality?

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to report epidemiological data on the prevalence of malocclusion among a group of children, consecutively admitted at a referral mouth breathing otorhinolaryngological (ENT) center. We assessed the association between the severity of the obstruction by adenoids/tonsils hyperplasia or the presence of allergic rhinitis and the prevalence of class II malocclusion, anterior open bite and posterior crossbite. METHODS: Cross-sectional, descriptive study, carried out at an Outpatient Clinic for Mouth-Breathers. Dental inter-arch relationship and nasal obstructive variables were diagnosed and the appropriate cross-tabulations were done. RESULTS: Four hundred and one patients were included. Mean age was 6 years and 6 months (S.D.: 2 years and 7 months), ranging from 2 to 12 years. All subjects were evaluated by otorhinolaryngologists to confirm mouth breathing. Adenoid/tonsil obstruction was detected in 71.8% of this sample, regardless of the presence of rhinitis. Allergic rhinitis alone was found in 18.7% of the children. Non-obstructive mouth breathing was diagnosed in 9.5% of this sample. Posterior crossbite was detected in almost 30% of the children during primary and mixed dentitions and 48% in permanent dentition. During mixed and permanent dentitions, anterior open bite and class II malocclusion were highly prevalent. More than 50% of the mouth breathing children carried a normal inter-arch relationship in the sagital, transversal and vertical planes. Univariate analysis showed no significant association between the type of the obstruction (adenoids/tonsils obstructive hyperplasia or the presence of allergic rhinitis) and malocclusions (class II, anterior open bite and posterior crossbite). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of posterior crossbite is higher in mouth breathing children than in the general population. During mixed and permanent dentitions, anterior open bite and class II malocclusion were more likely to be present in mouth breathers. Although more children showed these malocclusions, most mouth breathing children evaluated in this study did not match the expected "mouth breathing dental stereotype". In this population of mouth breathing children, the obstructive size of adenoids or tonsils and the presence of rhinitis were not risk factors to the development of class II malocclusion, anterior open bite or posterior crossbite.