DENTAL STATUS OF PRESCHOOL CHILDREN WITH MOUTH BREATHING
Authors: Ulasevych L.P. 
Published: September 2022

There is an increase in the number of children who have complicated nose breathing and its oral type. Preschool children are of particular concern according to clinicians. These circumstances contribute to the occurrence of a cariogenic situation in the oral cavity, namely, a violation of the quantitative and qualitative composition of oral fluid, a decrease in its remineralizing ability, a deterioration of oral hygiene and an increase in the population of cariogenic microflora. The purpose of our study was to assess the dental status of preschool children with oral breathing to develop more effective methods of preventing caries of temporary teeth that can be applied chairside during the dental appointment.

During the research two groups of examined children 3 to 6 years old were formed: Group I 89 people with oral breathing (35 with allergic rhinitis, 42 with adenoids hypertrophy, 12 with open bite); II group (control) – 76 somatically healthy children without signs of orthodontic pathology. The presence of oral breathing was determined using a functional breathing test. Dental status was assessed by caries indices, Fedorov-Volodkina hygiene index and oral fluid pH.

Research results and their discussion. According to the results of the examination it was found that there was no significant difference in the prevalence and intensity of caries of deciduous teeth, oral hygiene and the pH of oral fluid in children with oral breathing depending on the presence of allergic rhinitis, adenoid hypertrophy and bite pathology (р≥0.05). Therefore, there is no need to consider each of the groups separately in further research.

According to the obtained data we have a significant difference in the prevalence and intensity of caries of deciduous teeth between both research groups. According to the results of examinations the prevalence of caries in children with oral breathing is almost 2 times higher than in practically healthy children. The same situation is observed when determining the caries intensity parameters, both according to the index DEF (teeth) and DEF (surfaces).

Having evaluated the results of hygiene index determination the same dependence was obtained, namely, significantly higher indicators are noted in children with oral breathing. According to the data it was found that the oral hygiene of children of the research group with caries was at the level of “poor”, without caries – “unsatisfactory”. The participants of the control group with caries corresponded to the lower margin of the “satisfactory” level and the subjects without caries corresponded to the upper limit of the “satisfactory” state of oral hygiene. Survayed with caries have significantly higher parameters than those without it in both groups (≤0.05).

According to the results of the pH index determination of oral fluid in preschool children, the same significant dependency between the data was found, as in previous studies. A significant difference was also found between the pH values of the oral fluid depending on the presence tooth caries. The acidity of mixed saliva was always higher in children with dental caries than in children without it in both research groups. The highest values were more distinctive for children with oral breathing (р≤0.05).

A lower oral hygiene level was found in children with oral breathing, which provokes a shift of the pH balance of the oral fluid to the acidic direction compared to practically healthy subjects. This situation is complicated by the presence of caries of deciduous teeth. The deterioration of the studied parameters with age is also noted, which allows us to assume the dependence of the oral hygiene condition, the pH index of mixed saliva with an increase in the occurrence of oral breathing and the duration of the adjunct pathology. The physical parameters of the oral fluid have a direct effect on the neutralization of acids and the improvement of the cleaning quality of hard tissues.

Conclusion. Therefore, the obtained data can serve as a background for the prescription of the previously proposed complex of treatment and preventive measures in children with hypertrophy of adenoids [8] for persons with concomitant diseases characterized by oral breathing.

The perspective of further research is the study of a more extended list of parameters of oral cavity homeostasis in children with oral breathing as well as the study of the influence of the treatment and prevention complex on these parameters.