Craniofacial Morphologic Predictors for Passive Myofunctional Therapy of Pediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnea Using an Oral Appliance with a Tongue Bead

Abstract

We conducted this retrospective study to identify potential clinical, polysomnographic, and cephalometric predictors for the treatment outcomes of a tongue-beaded oral appliance (OA) in children with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). In total, 63 patients—50 boys and 13 girls ranging in age from 4 to 16 years—underwent OA treatment nightly for at least 6 months. A baseline digital lateral cephalometric radiograph was obtained for each patient. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to examine predictors for the treatment outcome based on the clinical and cephalometric measurements. Overall, 28 patients responded to the treatment (post-treatment improvement >50% or apnea–hypopnea index (AHI) < 1/h), and 35 did not (post-treatment improvement <50% and AHI ≥ 1/h). Significantly larger cranial base angle (SNBa), smaller lower gonial angle (LGo Angle), and shorter length of anterior cranial base (SN) were found in responders. Smaller lower gonial angle (LGo Angle) and smaller anterior cranial base (SN) predict a favorable outcome for pediatric OSAS using a tongue-beaded OA. This finding will equip practitioners with additional insights when selecting suitable candidates for OA therapy in pediatric patients.

The Effects of Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy on Children with OSAHS’s Craniomaxillofacial Growth: A Systematic Review

“…The last four indicators related to the additional items with the control group, while the first eight indicators related to the evaluation without the control group ( Table 3 ). By using the Risk of Bias in Non-Randomized Intervention Studies (ROBINS-I) tool [ 44 ], two assessors separately evaluated the risk of bias for OMT outcomes. Finally, the variations were discussed.…”