Purpose
To evaluate whether clinical and sociodemographic indicators of oral health in school-age children (from 8 to 12 years) with mixed dentition are associated with oral breathing.
Methods
Fifity-five children selected from a public school in the city of Cachoeira do Sul (RS) were evaluated. After obtaining parental consent, a trained speech pathologist performed examinations to identify children with orofacial clinical signs indicative of oral breathing. For the oral health exams, dental students underwent training and calibration according to the criteria of the World Health Organization for epidemiological surveys. In addition to the intra-oral examinations, socioeconomic and demographic data were collected from the parents of the children using a questionnaire.
Results
Although the prevalence of children with mouth breathing symptoms was notable, it was lower than that reported in the literature. No difference was observed between the groups (mouth breathers and nose breathers) regarding socioeconomic variables associated with the tested dental aspects.
Conclusion
Oral breathing was not associated with clinical indicators of oral health such as caries, visible plaque, and gingival bleeding. Further, no association was found between sociodemographic variables and oral breathing.
Epidemiology; Mouth breathing; Dental caries; Gingivitis; Speech; language and hearing sciences