Proposal for a screening questionnaire for detecting habitual mouth breathing, based on a mouth-breathing habit score

Hiromasa Kato,Masaaki Arai,Sayaka Sano,Ken Arakawa,Masahiro Sano

doi:10.1186/s12903-018-0672-6

Abstract

BackgroundWhen mouth breathing becomes habitual, it can cause sleep disorders and abnormal maxillofacial growth, thus early detection of habitual mouth breathing is important. We created a questionnaire for early detection of habitual mouth breathing using a score based on a spectrum of factors found to be characteristic of mouth breathers.MethodsFirst, a draft 50-question questionnaire was given to 101 random dental clinic patients, classified by dental professionals into habitual mouth breathers (n = 28) and nose breathers (n = 73). The 10 questions that significantly differentiated mouth and nose breathers (p < 0.05) were identified from this questionnaire. These questions, regarding nasal obstruction, open mouth at rest, awareness of mouth breathing, gum swelling and dental staining of the front teeth, bad breath, maxillary protrusion, nasal obstruction in childhood, bottle-feeding, and history of asthma, formed the basis for a second questionnaire. This second survey was completed by another 242 participants, separately classified into mouth breathing (n = 26), suspected mouth breathing (n = 40), and nose breathing groups (n = 176).ResultsReceiver operating characteristic curve analysis of the resulting mouth breathing habit scores, representing the responses to the 10-question survey, showed moderate checklist diagnosability. Sensitivity of cut-off values was 61.5% (specificity 92.0%) for the mouth-breathing group, and 77.5% (specificity 56.3%) for the suspected mouth-breathing group.Information was also obtained from visual assessment of maxillofacial characteristics. We found that the mouth-breathing and suspected mouth-breathing groups showed significantly high odds ratios for 7 items: discomfort while breathing and increased chin muscle tonus with lip closure, maxillary protrusion, tongue thrust, open mouth at rest, open bite, and childhood asthma. For 94.6% of the nose breathing group, ≥1 of these items applied.ConclusionsThese findings were then used together to create a sample screening form. We believe that screening of this kind can facilitate more accurate diagnosis of habitual mouth breathing and contribute to its early detection.

Highlights

When mouth breathing becomes habitual, it can cause sleep disorders and abnormal maxillofacial growth, early detection of habitual mouth breathing is important
Part 1: First questionnaire and oral findings Group attributes Of the 101 Part 1 participants, 73 were classified into the nose breathing group (72.3%; 29 males, 44 females), and 28 into the mouth breathing group (27.7%; 14 males, 14 females)
There were no significant differences between the groups in average age or body mass index (BMI)

Summary

Introduction

When mouth breathing becomes habitual, it can cause sleep disorders and abnormal maxillofacial growth, early detection of habitual mouth breathing is important. Mouth breathing has been reported to cause abnormal facial growth [1,2,3,4], attention problems associated with sleep disorders [3, 4], and of reduction in quality of life [5, 6]. The authors have reported increased oxygen load in the prefrontal cortex when changing from nasal breathing to mouth breathing [7]. In this way, in the field of dentistry, the characteristics of mouth breathing have been investigated mainly for the purpose of discovering the effects of mouth-breathing and identifying habitual mouth breathers. To identify whether a person is a habitual mouth breather, he or she should be evaluated based not on the presence (or absence) of certain specified characteristics, but on the extent to which the various different characteristics in the spectrum of characteristics associated with mouth breathing apply

Methods

Results

Conclusion