Relationship between short lingual frenulum and malocclusion. A multicentre study

Objective: Ankyloglossia is characterized by an abnormally short lingual frenulum, which impairs tongue movement. Ankyloglossia has been related to craniofacial growth disturbances and dental malocclusion. But even though there is a clear biological plausibility for this hypothesis, available evidence is scarce. Methods: A case–control design was followed. Patients between 4 and 14 years old were routinely screened for short lingual frenulum and recruited from the pediatric Otolaryngology consultation of 3 Spanish tertiary referral hospitals. Lingual frenulum was assessed with the Marchesan system. A cohort of cases with short lingual frenulum and a cohort of healthy controls matched for sex and age were included. Both cases and controls had pictures of occlusion. Occlusion was evaluated by an expert in orthodontics, blinded for the frenulum assessment. Results: A total of 100 participants were included, 70 males and 30 females. The proportion of malocclusion in the short lingual frenulum group was 48%, while it was 24% in the normal frenulum group. The odds ratio of malocclusion for the short lingual frenulum patients was 2.92 (CI 95% 1.15–7.56). The difference was statistically significant (p=.012). This difference was significant for patients with class III occlusion (p=.029). There was no difference for patients with class II (p=.317). Conclusions: This work supports the hypothesis that relates class III malocclusion with a short lingual frenulum.(AU)

Objetivo: La anquiloglosia se caracteriza por un frenillo lingual anormalmente corto que dificulta la movilidad de la lengua. La anquiloglosia ha sido relacionada con alteraciones del desarrollo facial y maloclusión dentaria. Sin embargo, a pesar de una clara plausibilidad biológica para esta hipótesis, la evidencia disponible es escasa. Métodos: Siguiendo un diseño de casos y controles se incluyeron pacientes entre 4-14 años atendidos en las consultas de otorrinolaringología pediátrica de 3 hospitales de tercer nivel en España. El frenillo lingual se evaluó mediante el sistema de Marchesan. Se incluyó una cohorte de casos con frenillo lingual corto, y una cohorte de controles sanos apareados por sexo y edad. A todos los participantes se les tomó fotografía dentaria en oclusión. La oclusión se evaluó mediante un odontólogo experto en ortodoncia, ciego a la evaluación del frenillo lingual. Resultados: Se incluyeron un total de 100 participantes, 70 hombres y 30 mujeres. La proporción de maloclusión en la cohorte con frenillo lingual corto fue del 48% y del 24% en la cohorte de controles. La odds ratio de maloclusión fue 2,92 (IC 95%: 1,15-7,56). La diferencia entre grupos fue estadísticamente significativa (p=0,012). Por subgrupos, la diferencia fue estadísticamente significativa para los pacientes con maloclusión clase iii (p=0,029), pero no para aquellos con maloclusión clase ii (p=0,317). Conclusiones: Este trabajo apoya la hipótesis que relaciona la maloclusión de clase iii con el frenillo lingual corto.(AU)

The role of pediatric maxillary expansion on nasal breathing. A systematic review and metanalysis.

OBJECTIVE: A reduced transversal dimension of the maxilla leads to narrower nasal cavities, which may reduce airflow to the lungs. Maxillary expansion widens nasal floor. However, there is huge controversy regarding whether this increase does actually lead to increased airflow. In this systematic review and meta-analysis we aim to resolve this question by evaluating studies that have undertaken rhinomanometric measurements. REVIEW METHODS: Pubmed (Medline), the Cochrane Library, EMBASE and Trip Database were checked by two authors. Two authors extracted the data. Main outcome was expressed as the difference between resistance before and after treatment and the 95% confidence interval. RESULTS: 30 studies were selected for full text reading. A total of 12 studies (301 patients) met the inclusion criteria. All selected articles found reduced resistance after palatal expansion. The data pooled in the meta-analysis reveals a statistically significant difference of 0.12 Pa s/cm3 mean reduction after palatal expansion (CI 95% 0.06, 0.18) for nine uncontrolled studies. Regarding nasal airflow, the pooled data show a statistically significant difference of 29.9 cm3/s increase after palatal expansion (CI 95% 9.17, 50.64). CONCLUSION: According to the available evidence, palatal expansion in pediatric patients decreases nasal resistance and increases nasal flow.

Validation of the Vertical Facial Growth Screening Test.

Background. Vertical facial growth has a high prevalence. Nonspecialized professionals have shown low sensitivity to identify patients at risk. In the face of this difficulty, we designed and validated a screening checklist for vertical facial growth. Methods. A multidisciplinary team of 5 members developed the Vertical Facial Growth Screening Test. A sample of 160 evaluations was obtained. We consider as the gold standard the evaluation of 2 specialists in dentofacial orthopedics. Results. Consistency measured with Cronbach α was .675 for 10 items. Test-retest reliability was .956. The interobserver concordance was .886. The receiver operating characteristic curve has .987 area under the curve. Conclusion. This is the first study to design and validate a screening checklist for vertical facial growth for nonexpert evaluators. We think that given its good performance, ease of use, inexpensiveness, and availability, the test could be useful for nontrained professionals dealing with children.

Are pediatricians and otolaryngologists well prepared to identify early signs of vertical facial growth?

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of vertical facial growth is very high in the developed world. Most authors agree that mouth breathing is its main cause. Even though care is mainly conducted by odontologists, the professionals who first see these patients are pediatricians and otolaryngologists. The objective of this study is to analyze the ability of pediatricians and otolaryngologists to identify early signs of vertical facial growth among children. METHODS: 60 participant aged 4.1-13.7 years were analyzed subjectively by 9 otolaryngologists, 9 pediatricians and two specialists in dentofacial orthopedics. They were also assessed objectively with cephalometric analysis. RESULTS: Otolaryngologists showed 34.78% sensitivity, 92.86% specificity and 48.33% efficiency. Pediatricians showed 13.04% sensitivity, 100% specificity and 33.33% efficiency. Using a linear regression model compared against the objective measurements we found a weak positive correlation both for otolaryngologists and pediatricians. CONCLUSION: The sensitivity was very low for both groups. We believe it is of paramount importance to increase the awareness and the ability of otolaryngologists and pediatricians to recognize signs of disrupt facial growth.