Impact of the Mouth Breathing Occurred During Childhood with Lordotic Changes; An Analytic Study

Abstract

Introduction: Nasopharyngeal passages are the primary passageway for respiratory exchange in humans. But chronic obstruction of the nasal passage encountered in youth causes a physiological shift in normal breathing pattern from nasal to oral breathing. Oral breathing results in craniofacial modification and postural adjustments. This study will be helpful for orthodontists to observe the cervical vertebral column area in growing children to prevent changes in cervical lordosis and associated sequelae from developing by early intervention, when required. Material & Methods: In this case control study conducted at the ’Montmorency College of Dentistry over 6 month period from 10th July, 2017 till 10th January, 2018, 60 patients fulfilling inclusion and exclusion criteria, were recruited from OPD and divided into two groups. Group “A” patients showing alteration in their cervical lordosis as observed on lateral cephalograms and group “B” patients with normal cervical lordosis on lateral cephalograms. Their breathing pattern, BMI and other demographic information were recorded. All the collected data were analyzed with SPSS version 23.0. Results: Mean age of the patients in group A (altered cervical lordosis) was 9.13 (+/- 1.68) years and in group B (normal cervical lordosis) was 8.77 (+/-1.91) years). Chi square test was applied for comparison of groups, p-value ≤ 0.05 considered as statistically significant. The alteration in cervical lordosis had a statistically significant association with oral breathing when compared with nasal breathers, chi square value 27.149 (p value 0.000). Conclusion: Significant association between alteration in cervical lordosis and oral breathing.