Maxillary dentoskeletal changes 1-year after adenotonsillectomy

Opening up on airways: the purported effect of nasorespiratory obstruction on dentofacial growth

Nasorespiratory obstruction has been purported to influence dentofacial growth adversely. This has sparked considerable debate for decades with a resurgence in interest in 'airway friendly orthodontics' among both general and specialist dental practitioners. This critical review aims to evaluate the current literature relating to two questions: does nasorespiratory obstruction alter dentofacial growth, and does early intervention targeted at alleviating nasorespiratory obstruction improve dentofacial growth? The strength of association between nasorespiratory obstruction, mouth breathing and a long face is weak. The common methodological flaws in research include unblinded and cross-sectional study designs, a lack of adequate controls, inadequate follow-up, subjective assessments and inadequate statistical power. Vertical dentofacial growth has a strong genetic influence, which implies a relatively minor contribution of environmental factors including airway obstruction. The current evidence does not support recommending procedures, such as adenotonsillectomy and maxillary expansion, with the singular aim of negating a hyperdivergent (vertical) dentofacial growth pattern. In light of low-quality evidence, both the World Health Organization guidelines and ethical principles dictate that greater emphasis is placed on avoiding harm and wastage of resources over alternative options. These findings call for quality improvement in undergraduate and postgraduate curricula and continuing professional development for health professionals.

Is securing normal dentofacial development an indication for tonsil surgery in children? A systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

Tonsil surgeries are common operations in the field of paediatric otorhinolaryngology. Often, the indication for these operations is hypertrophied tonsils. Paediatric sleep-disordered breathing and mouth-breathing are conventional situations caused by the hypertrophied tonsils. Both of these are further associated with dentofacial development alterations. Securing normal dentofacial development, or restoring it, is often used as an indication for tonsil surgery. In this review and meta-analysis, we assessed the contemporary literature to clarify whether tonsil surgery has an effect on dentofacial development in children.

METHODS

Studies with children aged 3-10 years who underwent tonsil surgery and were compared to non-operated controls using dentofacial parameters were included to the review. Search strategies were planned for specific databases. The Newcastle-Ottawa scale was used to assess the risk of bias. A meta-analysis was performed when the data was methodologically homogenous enough to be pooled.

RESULTS

The inclusion criteria for the review were fulfilled in 8 studies. The overall quality of the individual studies was judged to be moderate at best. The data were methodologically homogenous enough to be pooled for the meta-analysis in only 2 studies. The results of the meta-analysis revealed that tonsil surgery has a positive effect on the growth direction of the mandible (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

There is modest evidence that suggests that tonsil surgery has a positive effect on the dentofacial development in children with hypertrophied tonsils. Securing normal dentofacial development should be one component, but not the only one, when the indications for tonsil surgery in children are considered.

Facial growth direction after surgical intervention to relieve mouth breathing: a systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVES

A systematic review was performed to assess the prognosis for facial growth direction documented by mandibular plane inclination and anterior face height in growing subjects who had undergone surgical intervention to relieve mouth breathing (PROSPERO database, registration no. CRD 42013005707).

METHODS

PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library and LILACS were searched based on the guidelines of the PRISMA statement. Included were longitudinal studies with mouth-breathing patients who had undergone surgical interventions to relieve their respiratory pattern, with a minimum follow-up of one year.

RESULTS

A total of 1555 studies were identified, whereby only three nonrandomized clinical trials comprising 155 participants met the inclusion criteria. Primary outcome was change between the initial and final measurements of the mandibular plane-SN angle (95% confidence interval [CI] -2.13° [-3.08, -1.18]). Secondary outcomes included changes in total anterior face height (AFH; 95% CI -0.76 mm [-1.91, 0.38]), upper AFH (95% CI 0.09 mm [-0.57, 0.74]), and lower AFH (95% CI 0.06 mm [-0.87, 0.99]). Risk of bias was low for most of bias domains and the quality of evidence across the studies was considered to be very low. The design, the small number of participants, and the absence of blinding generated imprecision.

CONCLUSIONS

There is very low evidence that the mandibular growth direction became more horizontal during the first year after surgery to treat mouth breathing. The total anterior facial height decreased, although not always significantly.

The effect of adenotonsillectomy on the position of head, cervical and thoracic spine and scapular girdle of mouth breathing children

The clinical decision for surgical treatment of children diagnosed with mouth breathing depends on the percentage of mechanical obstruction correlated with exacerbation of upper respiratory tract infections and systemic changes. The benefits of adenotonsillectomy include changes in the nasopharyngeal space, the mandibular plane and myofunctional alterations. Post-adenotonsilectomy postural benefits have not yet been described.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the kinematics of the shoulder girdle, cervical and thoracic spine in children with mouth breathing before and after adenotonsillectomy.

METHODS

Forty-nine mouth breathing children (6.3 ± 1.8 years) of both sexes participated in the study. The measures of thoracic kyphosis, forward head position, shoulders protrusion and abduction, elevation, anterior tilt and internal rotation of the scapula were evaluated before and after surgery. The kinematic data were obtained using the system Qualysis ProReflex^®.

RESULTS

There was a significant decrease in forward head position, shoulders protrusion, elevation and anterior tilt of the scapula after surgery compared to the pre-operative.

CONCLUSION

One of adenotonsillectomy results is the improvement of the posture of the head and the shoulder girdle of mouth breathing children. Clinically these findings are important and will contribute to improving the quality of life of mouth breathing children.