Prevalence and factors related to mouth breathing in school children at the Santo Amaro project-Recife, 2005

AIM: To determine the prevalence of mouth breathing children at the santo amaro project/ esef/ upe, and study their main facial and behavior alterations. STUDY DESIGN: transversal study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: there were 150 children in the sample, with ages ranging from 8 to 10 years. Data was collected by means of a questionnaire and clinical examinations. As for their breathing assessment, two tests were carried out: test 1- breath steam against a mirror; and test 2 - water remains in the mouth with lips closed for 3 minutes. RESULTS: mouth breathing prevalence was of 53.3%. There was no significant difference between gender, age and type of breathing. Facial alterations were: incomplete lip closure (58.8% X 5,7%), fallen eyes (40.0% X 1.4%), High palate (38.8% X 2.9%), Anterior open bite (60.0% Versus 30.0%), Hypotonic lips (3.8% X 0.0%), Circles under the eyes (97.5% Versus 77.1%). CONCLUSION: high mouth breathing prevalence without significant statistical difference between genders, age and type of mouth breathing. There was no association between behavior characteristics and type of breathing. There were significant differences between physical traits and breathing pattern.