Airway Analysis in Different Malocclusions - A Cephalometric Study

Abstract

Background: It was essential to evaluate respiratory function when diagnosing and planning orthodontic treatment. Based on the correlation between pharyngeal airway space and craniofacial structure, airway width was hypothesized to be an indicator of airway patency in different groups of skeletal malocclusion. Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate age and gender related changes in pharyngeal airway dimensions in different sagittal skeletal relationships Materials and Method: Sixty lateral cephalograms of patients aged 10-30 years with no pharyngeal pathology or nasal obstruction were retrospectively selected and categorized into skeletal Class I (n = 20), Class II (n = 20), and Class III (n = 20) malocclusion based on ANB angle. McNamara's airway analysis was used to quantify upper- and lower-airway dimensions. The analyses of intergroup differences were performed using a one-way ANOVA, an independent t-test, and Tukey's test as a post-hoc test. Results: Participants in the study ranged in age from 20.57 ± 5.41 years (males) and 20.03 ± 4.58 years (females) were included in the study. The upper pharyngeal airway (UPA) dimensions demonstrated a positive correlation with age. In both genders, the mean upper pharyngeal airway (UPA) size exceeded the lower pharyngeal airway (LPA) size, but neither age nor gender was associated with statistically significant differences in skeletal malocclusion. Conclusion: It was shown that skeletal malocclusions of different types have no effect on the upper and lower pharyngeal airways and that the upper and lower pharyngeal airways are not influenced by age or gender.