Association between maloclusion and self-perception of oral aesthetics in adolescents

Aim: To evaluate the aesthetic self-perception capacity of adolescents from public schools regarding the presence of oral alterations from malocclusions. Methods: Cross-sectional and quantitative study with 374 adolescents between 16 and 18 years old, belonging to public schools in the city of Parnaíba, Piauí. The adolescents were separated by gender (male and female) and examined for malocclusions. The problem identified for each participant was recorded for later comparison of the influence of its presence with aesthetic self-perception. Then, all adolescents, including those who demonstrated normal occlusion during the clinical evaluation, answered a questionnaire containing eight questions about their perception of their own smile and its impact on their interpersonal relationships. Self-perception was also analyzed by comparing the responses of those with normal occlusion with that of malocclusion individuals. Student's t-tests were used to verify if there was a difference between the groups. Results: The most prevalent malocclusions after clinical examination were midline deviations, crowding and diastemas, and the ones that most scored in the adolescents' perception were crowding, misalignment and diastemas. Conclusion: The adolescents were able to perceive the aesthetic alterations resulting from malocclusions, being determinants of dissatisfaction when smiling. They were not ashamed to smile, did not consider that the ideal smile would improve their self-esteem and that misaligned teeth would not interfere with flirting and interpersonal relationships

Influence of non-nutritive sucking habits on anterior open bite

Aim: To evaluate the clinical behavior of sucking habits in children between 2 to 6 years old in a private (A1) and a public school (A2) in the state of Piauí. Methods: It was cross-sectional and quantitative study in 340 participants, 169 in A1 and 171 in A2. The researchers asked the children evaluated to keep their teeth occluded while analyzing whether there was no contact between the anterior teeth and no lip sealing, characterizing the anterior openbite for G1 or if there was contact between the incisors, with lip sealing, characterizing the control group (G2). Results: There was no statistically significant difference between groups regarding bottle feeding at main meals (χ2 = 3.03; p = 0.08). However, regarding the use of a pacifier, there was a statistically significant association (χ2 = 17.99; p <0.01) between pacifier use and the presence of anterior openbite. Such association was also observed between digital sucking habit and malocclusion (χ2 = 8.99; p = 0.01). Only the parents of the children with anterior openbite noticed the disharmony in the occlusion. It can be deduced that there was an awareness of parents /guardians about the disharmony generated by non-nutritive sucking habits. Conclusion: Nonnutritive sucking habits influenced the appearance of the anterior open bite in children with deciduous dentition. Nonnutritive sucking habits, such as digital sucking and pacifiers, are significantly associated with the presence of anterior open bite. Breastfeeding is important in preventing this malocclusion