Build and breathing – Is there an association?

Abstract

Normal breathing is essential for the harmonious craniofacial growth. Narrowing or functional impairment of the airway can lead to obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). Orthodontists are well positioned to carry out a screening of OSA and refer the patients-at-risk for further diagnostic valuation by the physician. The aim of this research was to evaluate the presence of a correlation between the build of the patient and airway insufficiency to sensitize the eye of the orthodontist for potential at-risk OSA patients and provide a superior quality of treatment for them. Pre-treatment lateral cephalograms of 45 patients were divided into three groups depending on the build of the patient, i.e., endomorphic, mesomorphic and ectomorphic. The BMI was calculated for each individual and all were evaluated for the presence of airway insufficiency using McNamara’s pharyngeal width analysis. The positions of the hyoid bone and the tongue posture was also evaluated. The results of the present study showed that the association between the overall McNamara airway measurements and the build of the patient was statistically insignificant. A statistically significant difference was found between the association of the two sexes with the upper pharyngeal width values and the BMI values with the males showed a higher risk for airway insufficiency. This study suggests that build of the patient cannot be considered as a screening factor for airway insufficiency or OSA. However, a significant correlation exists between the airway insufficiency and the sex of the patient with a higher predilection of upper airway insufficiency in males.