Do symptoms and signs of temporomandibular disorders have an association with breathing pattern: a cross-sectional study on Turkish children and adolescents

Abstract

Background: This paper aimed to explore the prevalence of temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) signs/symptoms, and to investigate the possible link between signs/symptoms of TMDs and mouth breathing (MB) by evaluating along with other risk factors, in a Turkish subpopulation of children and adolescence. Methods: This study was conducted with the archival data of the patients who applied with orthodontic complaints. Data on demographic characteristics, family-related factors, systemic status, occlusion, breathing patterns, oral habits, and bruxism were retrieved from the archival records. Results: Nine hundred forty-five children and adolescents with a mean age of 14.82 ± 2.06 years were included in the study. Of the participants, 66% were girls, 60.4% were delivered by C-section, 8.4% of the participants had at least one systemic disease, 9.2% of the participants had allergy, and 4.3% of the participants’ parents were divorced, 18.7% have an oral habit, 6.6% have bruxism, 29.8% have malocclusion and 14.1% have MB. Eight-point-five percent of participants have signs/symptoms of TMD. Among them 2.9% have pain, 3.7% have joint sounds, 1.4% have deflection, and 3.9% have deviation. Evaluation of the risk factors revealed a significant relation between the signs/symptoms of TMD and bruxism (OR 8.07 95% CI 4.36–14.92), gender (OR 2.01 95% CI 1.13–3.59), marital status of parents (OR 2.62 95% CI 1.07–6.42), and MB (OR 3.26 95% CI 1.86–5.71). Conclusions: According to the study’s findings, girls and those with bruxism, divorced parents, and MB behavior are more likely to have signs/symptoms of TMD. Age found to have significant effect on the occurrence of the signs/symptoms of TMD alone, but together with other factors the effect of the age is disappeared. Early screening and intervention of MB as well as the signs/symptoms of TMD can help to limit detrimental effects of these conditions on growth, and quality of life of children and adolescents.