Frequency of Oral Habits Related to Malocclusion in Patients Aged 4-12 : A Comparative Study between San Luis Potosí-Mexico and Medellín-Colombia, 2016
Research Articles
Introduction: Oral habits interfere in the development of the functions of the stomatognathic system; there-
fore, they are an etiological factor in the development of malocclusions.
Aim: To compare the frequency of oral habits and its relationship with malocclusion in children aged 4-12 in
San Luis Potosí-Mexico and Medellín-Colombia.
Materials and methods: Cross-sectional, descriptive study. Convenience sample of 598 children from 4 to
12 years old (299 children per city). For data analysis, a contingency table with chi-square was prepared
using spss v. 21.
Results: The most frequent oral habit for the total sample was onychophagy. When comparing the sample
in both cities, onychophagy was highly frequent in San Luis Potosí, while mouth breathing was more com-
mon in Medellín. In San Luis Potosí, most children with some habit had a class i molar ratio, except those
with atypical swallowing, who exhibited class iii malocclusion. From the statistical point of view, atypical
swallowing was the habit with the highest significance in relation to the presence of malocclusions in the
total sample. A direct relationship between the presence of posterior cross bite and digit sucking in San Luis
Potosí (p ≤ 0.05) was also found.
Conclusions: Atypical swallowing and open bite are directly related, which suggests that the swallowing
function can be a causal factor of malocclusion; moreover, a direct relationship between digit sucking and
posterior cross bite was found
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