Abstract

GONZALEZ ACUNA, Macarena de los Ángeles et al. Oral breathing and dentoalveolar trauma in children aged 6 to 14 years. Rev Cubana Estomatol [online]. 2014, vol.51, n.1, pp.35-42. ISSN 0034-7507.

Introduction: dentoalveolar trauma is a traumatic-high prevalent injury with high costs associated with treatment and adverse effects at functional, aesthetic, and psychological levels. There are some predisposing clinical features of dentoalveolar trauma that are also present in mouth-breathing children, however the role of mouth breathing as a predisposing factor is not clearly determined. Objective: this paper aims to determine the association between mouth breathing and dentoalveolar trauma in children aged 6 to 14 years, controlling other covariates. Methods: a case-control study 1:2 was conducted. The sample was composed of 57 cases and 113 controls, assuming 95 % of confidence level, 80 % of power, and 10 % losses. The cases were children aged 6 to 14 years admitted at the Pediatric Dentistry Unit in Dr. Sotero del Río Hospital because of dental trauma. This hospital assists a population of 1.521.144 inhabitants from the capital city. Controls were conducted on volunteer children of the same age group without dental trauma who are treated at the same hospital. Data were collected from interviews, clinical measurement, and direct observation to determine respiratory mode. The Fisher and Mann Whitney test was applied to find differences between the groups. The association between mouth breathing and dentoalveolar trauma was assessed through a logistical model controlling gender, overjet, and age. Results: the prevalence of mouth-breathing children was higher, which represents 47, 4 % (p < 0. 05). However, no significant association could be made between mouth breathing and dentoalveolar trauma (OR: 1.875; IC95 %:0.866-4.058; p > 0. 05) and neither for any of the covariates in this model. Conclusions: breathing through the oral cavity does not constitute an increased risk of dentoalveolar trauma over a bump or fall in children aged 6 to 14 years.

Keywords : mouth breathing; dentoalveolar trauma; overjet.

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