Relationship between malocclusion and deleterious oral habits in preschool children in Campina Grande, PB, Brazil

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the prevalence of malocclusions in preschool children in the city of Campina Grande, PB, Brazil, and verify the existence of associations between malocclusions and deleterious oral habits, gender and age. Methods: 342 children (3-5-year-old; 196 boys and 146 girls) with complete primary dentition and no previous orthodontic treatment were randomly selected from children regularly attending municipal day care centers. The occurrence of the following malocclusions was evaluated: accentuated overjet and overbite, anterior open bite and posterior crossbite. A calibrated experienced examiner (Kappa = 0.86) performed all clinical examinations under natural lightening after drying the teeth and soft tissue with gauze. Yates' chi-square and Fisher's exact tests verified the association between the variables and odds ratio. Significance level was set at 5%. Results: Malocclusions and deleterious oral habits were observed in 74% and 73.4% of the children, respectively. The prevalence of malocclusion was 68.9% in boys and 80.9% in girls. Accentuated overjet (45%) and anterior open bite (42.4%) were the most prevalent malocclusions. There was statistically significant difference (P = .008) between genders. However, no statistically significant differences (P = .47) were found among the age groups. Accentuated overjet, anterior open bite and posterior crossbite showed a positive association with the presence of deleterious oral habits. Conclusions: The high prevalence of malocclusions and deleterious oral habits observed in this pediatric population is supportive to the fact that oral health professionals that treat patients in these age groups should be aware of the importance of an early and accurate diagnosis in order to avoid the aggravation of occlusal alterations in the future.Cilj rada: Utvrditi prevalenciju malokluzije kod predskolske dece u gradu Campina Grande, u Brazilu, i odnos izmedju malokluzija i stetnih navika, pola i uzrasta. Metode: 342 dece (uzrasta 3-5 godina; 196 decaka i 146 devojcica) sa kompletnom primarnom denticijom i bez prethodnog ortodontskog tretmana je odabrano metodom slucajnog izbora od dece koja redovno borave u dnevnim decjim centrima. Ispitivana je pojava sledecih tipova malokluzija: veliki horizontalni preklop i ukrsteni zagrizaj, anteriorni otvoreni zagrizaj i bocni ukrsteni zagrizaj. Kalibrirani iskusni istrazivac (Kappa=0.86) je uradio sve klinicke preglede pri dnevnom svetlu i posle posusivanja zuba i mekih tkiva gazom. Yates ?2 i Fisherov test su potvrdili povezanost varijabli i stepen verovatnoce. Stepen pouzdanosti je iznosio 95%. Rezultati: Malokluzije i stetne navike su uocene u 74% odnosno 73.4% dece. Prevalencija malokluzija je iznosila 68.9% kod decaka i 80.9% kod devojcica. Veliki horizontalni preklop (45%) i anteriorni otvoreni zagrizaj (42.4%) su bile dominante malokluzije. Uocena je statisticki znacajna razlika izmedju polova (p=0.008). Medjutim, nije bilo znacajne razlike (p = 0.47) izmedju starosnih grupa. Veliki horizontalni preklop, anteriorni otvoreni zagrizaj i bocni ukrsteni zagrizaj su pokazali pozitivnu korelaciju sa prisustvom stetnih navika. Zakljucak: Visoka prevalencija malokluzija i stetnih navika uocena u decjoj populaciji ukazuju na to da decji stomatolozi moraju biti svesni znacaja rane i tacne dijagnoze da bi se izbegla pogorsanja okluzalnih alteracija u kasnijem dobu.