Lack of correlation between mouth-breathing and bite force.

The correlation between mouth-breathing and bite force was studied in 81 children, 7 to 16 years old. Mouth-breathing was diagnosed on the basis of the subject history, the rhinomanometrically determined nasal airflow and the size of the airway measured on the profile cephalogram. The maximum bite force was measured at the first molars. In addition, the facial morphology was analysed on profile cephalograms. Both mouth-breathing and bite force were associated with the facial morphology but there was no association between mouth-breathing and bite force. It was concluded that the long-face morphology characteristic of mouth-breathing children is not due to weak masticatory muscles.