Anna Cristina Petraccone Caixeta1, Ildeu Andrade2, Tatiana Bahia Junqueira Pereira3, Letícia Paiva Franco4, Helena Maria Gonçalves Becker4, Bernardo Quiroga Souki2. 1. Private practice, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Electronic address: annapetraccone@yahoo.com.br. 2. Associate professor, Graduate Program in Orthodontics, Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. 3. Private practice, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. 4. Medical doctor, Outpatient Clinic for Mouth Breathers, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: The purposes of this study were to investigate the dental arch changes after adenotonsillectomies in prepubertal children and to compare the dental arch dimensions of mouth-breathing and nasal-breathing children. METHODS: The sample included 49 prepubertal severely obstructed mouth-breathing children and 46 prepubertal nasal-breathing children. Twenty-four of the 49 mouth-breathing children had an adenotonsillectomy and composed the adenotonsillectomy subgroup. The 25 children in whom the mouth-breathing pattern was unchanged during the 1-year study period composed the control subgroup. RESULTS: The mouth-breathing children showed a deeper palatal vault, a larger mandibular width, and a larger mandibular arch length in comparison with the nasal-breathing children. After airway clearance, the adenotonsillectomy group showed a significant maxillary transverse width gain compared with the control subgroup. The control subgroup showed a significant deepening of the palatal height when compared with the adenotonsillectomy subgroup after 1 year. CONCLUSIONS: The adenotonsillectomy subgroup had a significantly different pattern of arch development compared with the untreated controls. After adenotonsillectomy, the mouth-breathing children showed greater maxillary transverse development than did the controls. The palatal vault deepened in the untreated children. The mouth-breathing children showed a deeper palatal vault, a larger mandibular width, and a larger mandibular arch length in comparison with the nasal-breathing children.
INTRODUCTION: The purposes of this study were to investigate the dental arch changes after adenotonsillectomies in prepubertal children and to compare the dental arch dimensions of mouth-breathing and nasal-breathing children. METHODS: The sample included 49 prepubertal severely obstructed mouth-breathing children and 46 prepubertal nasal-breathing children. Twenty-four of the 49 mouth-breathingchildren had an adenotonsillectomy and composed the adenotonsillectomy subgroup. The 25 children in whom the mouth-breathing pattern was unchanged during the 1-year study period composed the control subgroup. RESULTS: The mouth-breathing children showed a deeper palatal vault, a larger mandibular width, and a larger mandibular arch length in comparison with the nasal-breathing children. After airway clearance, the adenotonsillectomy group showed a significant maxillary transverse width gain compared with the control subgroup. The control subgroup showed a significant deepening of the palatal height when compared with the adenotonsillectomy subgroup after 1 year. CONCLUSIONS: The adenotonsillectomy subgroup had a significantly different pattern of arch development compared with the untreated controls. After adenotonsillectomy, the mouth-breathing children showed greater maxillary transverse development than did the controls. The palatal vault deepened in the untreated children. The mouth-breathing children showed a deeper palatal vault, a larger mandibular width, and a larger mandibular arch length in comparison with the nasal-breathing children.