ABSTRACT
AIM:
To evaluate the impact of long-term partial
parenteral nutrition and its
complications on
malocclusion in
children and
adolescents. MATERIAL AND
METHODS:
The assessment involved 61
patients (2.25 to16 years of age) without a masticatory parafunction - i.e. 31 subjects receiving
parenteral nutrition for a mean period of 5.71±2.87 years, and 30 healthy control subjects. The
medical records provided information on the delivery (full-term, preterm),
birth body mass,
Apgar score, weight
deficiency at the age of 1 year; the
patient assessment included the current body mass, the number of enteral
meals per day and parenteral
meals per week, occlusion (acc.to Orlik-Grzybowska's
parameters). The
statistical analysis was performed by using the
chi-square test, Spearman's correlation
analysis; the statistical significance was p<0.05.
RESULTS:
Premature infants with low
birth body mass (38.7%),
Apgar score below 7 (25.8%),
underweight in the first year of
life (74.2%) and on examination day (58.1%) were only part of the test group. Mean number of eaten
meals 4.63±1.88 in
parenteral nutrition patients, 6.26±1.39 in healthy individuals in the
control group.
Malocclusions were significantly more frequent in the
children receiving
parenteral nutrition (38.71% the most frequent defects included
crossbite (19.31%),
open bite malocclusion (12.9%),
crowding of
teeth (9.67%), than in the
control group (13.3%
crossbite (3.3%),
open bite malocclusion (3.3),
crowding of
teeth (3.3%). A correlation was statistically proved between the
malocclusion and
parenteral nutrition, the number of
parenteral feeding sessions per week, the current low body mass.
CONCLUSION:
Long-term
parenteral nutrition, a decreased number of oral
meals and a coexistent low body mass at the developmental age may contribute to the development of
malocclusion.
