Abstract

CARULLA MARTINEZ, Dariel; ESPINOSA QUIROS, Desiderio  and  MESA LEVY, Tania. Cephalometric study of the hyoid bone in mouth-breathing children aged 11 (first part) . Rev Cubana Estomatol [online]. 2008, vol.45, n.2, pp. 0-0. ISSN 1561-297X.

OBJECTIVE: this paper is aimed at describing the behavior of the position of the hyoid bone in mouth- and non-mouth breathing children. METHODS: the medical histories of 60 patients aged 11 that were seen at the Orthodontics Department in the health area of the Faculty of Stomatology were collected to compare from the cephalometric point of view a group of mouth-breathing patients in order to determine if there were differences in the behavior of the position of the hyoid bone with certain cephalometric variables (linear and angular) with respect to non-mouth breathing patients (controls). The mean and standard deviation were calculated for each of the measurements. To determine the possible difference of the measurements for independent samples, the Student's t test for independent samples or their non-parametric equivalent (Mann- Whitney y Kolmogorov- Smirnov) was conducted. A significance level of 5 % was used in all the hypothesis tests. RESULTS: Most of the patients are in the range 30-35 mm. The values and the frequency of variables H-C3 y H-PPF have a similar distribution both in the control group and in the mouth-breathing group. The variable Gn-H shows its higher frequency in the range 40-45 mm. CONCLUSIONS: It was observed a resistance of the middle constrictor muscles of the pharynx, stylohyoid and posterior belly of the digastric and of the stylohyoid ligament to the transfer of the hyoid in the anterior sense. This resistance is exerted by the mylohyoid, geniohyoid and digastric anterior belly muscles in the mouth breathing children (descent of the bone)

Keywords : Hyoid; cephalometry; upper airways.

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