Mouth Breathing and Speech Disorders: A Multidisciplinary Evaluation Based on The Etiology

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to determine the most common speech impairments among mouth breathing (MB) children and to assess the relationship between them in terms of etiology, gender, clinical symptoms, clinical findings, and dental traits. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 498 mouth-breathers, both male and female, aged 9–17 years, were screened for allergic rhinitis (AR), adenoid hypertrophy (AH), and/or functional mouth breathing (FM). The subjects were assessed by a team that included an otorhinolaryngologist, an allergologist, an orthodontist, and a speech pathologist. RESULTS: MB was associated with AR, AH, FM, and orofacial myofunctional disorders (OMD). AR was the most common etiology, followed by FM. Further, 81.7% of the children had speech disorders such as speech sound problems, fluency disorders, and voice disorders. A statistically significant association was found between etiology, OMD, and speech alterations. Males had a statistically highly significant frequency of speech abnormalities than females. Frontal lisp was found in 36.1%, followed by stuttering (19.2%). In 10.6% of the children, two or more speech impediments occurred simultaneously. There was also a statistically significant association between various speech abnormalities and malocclusion. CONCLUSION: The findings of the study suggested that articulation disorders were frequently associated with MB children. It emphasizes the necessity of monitoring MB children through a multidisciplinary approach to prevent the adverse effects of MB and improve the overall development of individuals.