Effects of bicuspid extractions and incisor retraction on upper airway of Asian adults and late adolescents: A systematic review

OBJECTIVES: This systematic review aimed to assess the effects of bicuspid extractions and incisor retraction on airway dimension, hyoid position and breathing of adults and late adolescents. METHODS: The review was conducted according to PRISMA guidelines. Eight databases including PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science and Scopus were searched to August 2018. Minimum age of participants was 16 years. The intervention was dual‐arch bicuspid extractions with incisor retraction. Outcomes were airway dimension, hyoid position and breathing assessment. RESULTS: All nine publications meeting inclusion criteria were from Asia. They were divided into three Asian subregions. All East Asian lateral cephalometric studies reported anteroposterior airway narrowing at the oropharynx and sometimes the hypopharynx. However, the narrowing was small, comparable to measurement errors, and highly variable. Two out of three East Asian computed tomography (CT) studies described reductions in airway dimensions. The single functional breathing study showed increased simulated flow resistance after incisor retraction in East Asians. South Asian studies had mixed findings, with some reporting significant airway narrowing. The single study from West Asia found no significant airway or hyoid changes. CONCLUSIONS: Airway response to bicuspid extractions and incisor retraction varied substantially when assessed with cephalometry. CT measurements present larger effect sizes and smaller variations, providing stronger evidence of airway narrowing. Orthodontic extractions for incisor retraction may be more frequently indicated in Asia, and East Asians seem particularly susceptible to airway narrowing and postero‐inferior hyoid movement with incisor retraction. Better designed CT studies are needed for confirmation due to small effect size and large variability.