Impacto da maloclusão e respiração bucal na qualidade de vida de crianças de 8 a 10 anos de idade

Abstract

Due to high prevalence, the malocclusion is considered a public health problem and may interfere negatively on quality of life of people. The mouth breathing has also been considered a public health problem due to the multiple problems that this can cause dysfunction. The aim of this cross-sectional study was evaluate the impact of malocclusion and mouth breathing in quality of life of children aging from 8 to 10 years old, students of public schools of the city of Belo Horizonte. The instrument used to measure the OHRQoL (Oral Health-Related Quality of Life) was the Brazilian version of the Child Perceptions Questionnaire (CPQ8-10), which was applied to children through interview. The clinical examination of children was conducted by a dentist previously calibrated using as diagnostic criteria for malocclusion the Dental Aesthetic Index (DAI). The mouth breathing was assessed using the Moyers criteria. Dental caries were included in the clinical examination and treated as confounding variables. This study received approval from the Human Research Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG). Data analysis involved descriptive statistics, bivariate and multivariate analysis by Poisson regression, with a significance level of 5%. Two hundred and seventy children participated in the study. The most frequent types of malocclusion were anterior crowding in one- segment (39,6%), anterior spacing in one- segment (44,1%), overjet 3mm (24,0%) and half cusp molar relationship (24,1%). Children with normal occlusion or minor malocclusion (DAI25) showed 56% less likely ((95% IC: 0,258-0,758; p=0,003) of impact on quality of life compared with children diagnosed with very severe malocclusion (DAI36). Children with overjet 3mm showed larger mean scores of CPQ8-10 (19,4; DP=17,1) than those with overjet < 3mm (13,6; DP=11,7; p=0,038). The other independent variables are not significantly associated to the CPQ 8-10 (p>0,05). It is concluded that the mouth breathing is not associated with negative impact on quality of life however the very severe malocclusion and increased overjet were associated with negative impact on quality of life.