Etiology of the anterior open bite

Abstract

the objective of this study was to assess the etiology of the anterior open bite in 40 children, aging between 5 to 10 years old, being treated at the Children´s Integrated Clinic at CESUMAR, in the city of Maringá (Brazil). The study was carried out by three budy calibrated examiners working in a retating system with the objective of examining the same patient three times, and so minimizing possible errors in the data collection. A clinical recording file was used to fil in the details related to anamneses, intra-oral exams and the different data related to the teleradiograph analysis of the lateral and panoramic aspects of each patient. The results obtained were: atypical swallowing 100%, oral breathers, 78%, dummy sucking 68%, finger sucking 30%, lingual interposition 20% and other causes 25%. The reason for oral breathing was: hypertrophic tonsils (48%), hypertrophic adenoids (38%), septum deviation (35%), allergic rhinitis (23%), and other causes (3%). The results leas to the conclusion that there is a strong relation between deleterious oral habits and the obstruction of the superior airways that cause oral breathing and the anterior open bite.