Prevalência de crianças respiradoras orais

Abstract

Objective: To determine the prevalence of mouth breathing among children aged 3 to 9 years living in the urban districts of the town of Abaeté, MG, Brazil.Methods: This study assesses a representative, randomized sample of the town's population (23,596 inhabitants).Children were selected by lots according to a random number table until 370 had been enrolled; this number had been determined by statistical calculation. A protocol for anamnesis and clinical assessment of the patients was specially developed for this project, since no preexisting instruments could be found in the literature that had been validated and were appropriate for the purpose. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 10.5. Results:The prevalence of mouth breathing was found to be 55%, or 204 children. Conclusion:Further studies are needed to validate a questionnaire for the clinical diagnosis of mouth breathers at the primary care level.

Achados da avaliação multiprofissional de crianças respiradoras orais

“…Another finding in our study was inadequate resting lip posture, with most children showing a lips-apart posture, which corroborates other studies 3,10,15,20,23 . However, changes in cheek tension and resting tongue posture, mentioned in the literature 20 , were not identified in our study.…”

“…Mouth breathing can cause facial deformities and dental alignment problems 3 . Reports of malocclusion 5,6,15,16 , long face 6 , excessive height of the lower third of the face and of the maxillary arch 5 can also be found in the literature.…”

“…Mariana da Costa (1) , Amanda Freitas Valentim (2) , Helena Maria Gonçalves Becker (3) , Andréa Rodrigues Motta (4) (1)…”

“…Conflict of interest: non-existent studies of this disorder are scant in the literature, rates of 55% 3 and 56.8% have been reported 4 in schoolchildren aged 6-9 years. Mouth breathing may be related to genetic factors, inadequate oral habits, and nasal obstruction of varying severity and duration 3 .…”

“…Mouth breathing may be related to genetic factors, inadequate oral habits, and nasal obstruction of varying severity and duration 3 . Among the obstructive presentations are adeno-tonsillar hyperplasia, allergic and nonallergic rhinites, and hypertrophic inferior nasal conchas.…”