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Published on: December 6, 2016
Comparision of orofacial airway dimensions in subject with different breathing pattern
1Research Assistant, Department of Orthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey.
Objective:
To test the null hypothesis that there is no significant difference in the craniofacial morphology and orofacial airway dimensions between mouth breathing (MB) and nasal breathing (NB) subjects.
Materials And Methods:
Lateral cephalometric radiographs of 34 MB subjects (mean age: 12.8±1.5 years; range: 12.0-15.2 years) and 33 NB subjects (mean 13.9±1.3 years; age range: 12.2-15.8 years) with Class I occlusion were examined. Totally, 34 measurements (27 craniofacial and 7 orofacial airway) were evaluated. Group differences were statistically evaluated by independent samples t-test at p<0.05 levels.
Results:
Statistical comparisons showed that SNA (p<0.01), ANB (p<0.01), A to N perp (p<0.05), convexity (p<0.05), IMPA (p<0.05) and overbite (p<0.05) measurements were significantly lower in MB group when compared to NB group. However, SN-MP (p<0.01) and PP-GoGn (p<0.01) from angular measurements and S-N (p<0.05) and anterior facial height (p<0.05) from linear measurements were significantly higher in MB subjects. Among orofacial airway measurements, only upper posterior airway space was found significantly higher(p<0.001) in MB than NB subjects.
Conclusions:
The null hypothesis was rejected. Mouth breathing affects craniofacial morphology and orofacial airway dimensions.
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