Cephalometric evaluation of the oropharyngeal space in children with atypical deglutition

For several factors, not yet fully explained until now, infant deglutition may persist after changing the primary teeth and such swallowing is classified as atypical swallowing. Possible causes: finger sucking, bottle feeding, sucking the tongue and mouth breathing. There is no consensus about the etiology of atypical deglutition. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare the oropharyngeal space in side-view radiographs of children with atypical deglutition and normal deglutition. METHODS: Retrospective study, by means of cephalometric analysis of side-view radiographs, measuring the anteroposterior distance of the lumen of the airway in two groups: 55 cephalograms from the experimental group (with atypical deglutition) and 55 side-view radiographs from the control group (normal deglutition). Measurements from the groups were compared using Mann-Whitney U test and a p value <0.05 was considered as an indication of statistical significance. RESULTS: The median in the control group was 10 mm and in the experimental group it was 7 mm, with a statistically significant difference (p <0.001). CONCLUSION: The oropharyngeal space is reduced in the group with atypical deglutition.