A obstrução nasal e o diagnóstico ortodôntico / Nasal obstruction and orthodontic diagnosis

OBJETIVO: analisar a freqüência de obstrução nasal em pacientes submetidos a tratamento ortodôntico e verificar a correlação com achados faciais e problemas dentários. METODOLOGIA: oitenta pacientes de 7 a 23 anos (37M; 43F) atendidos no Curso de Especialização da SPO, escolhidos aleatoriamente, foram submetidos à avaliação otorrinolaringológica. RESULTADOS: observou-se incidência de 51,3 por cento de obstrução nasal. A principal causa do distúrbio respiratório foi a rinite inflamatória, provavelmente alérgica, sendo que cerda de 61 por cento dos casos estavam associados à hiperplasia adenoamigdaliana. Observou-se uma maior freqüência de dolicofaciais dentre os pacientes com obstrução nasal, sem significância estatística. Houve uma associação significante entre a atresia maxilar e mordida cruzada e a presença de palato ogival. CONCLUSÃO: o diagnóstico da obstrução nasal é fundamental nos pacientes com más oclusões, principalmente os dolicofaciais. O tratamento da obstrução nasal deve ser precoce, durante a fase de crescimento e, em geral, conjunto ao ortodôntico.

Improvement of bruxism after T & A surgery.

UNLABELLED: Bruxism or tooth grinding is an oral habit that frequently occurs during sleep. Some authors suggest it is associated to sleep apnea. OBJECTIVES: The main goal of this study is compare the incidence of bruxism before and after adenotonsillectomy (T & A surgery) in children with sleep-disordered breathing. METHODS: This is a prospective study in which we evaluated 69 consecutive children from the Otolaryngology Department of the University of São Paulo Medical School in pre- and post-surgical periods of adenotonsillectomy. Before and after surgery parents answered a questionnaire about sleep-disturbed breathing and bruxism. Children were submitted to E.N.T. examination and speech pathologist evaluation. The orthodontist inspected malocclusion. Before surgery all the 69 children presented sleep apnea and 45.6% presented bruxism. Malocclusion could be found in 60.71%. Three months after surgery none of the children presented breathing problems and only 11.8% presented bruxism. There was no difference in malocclusion. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that there is a positive correlation between sleep-disordered breathing and bruxism. There was an important improvement of bruxism after T & A surgery. Otolaryngologists must be aware that this pernicious sleep disorder is associated to airway obstruction and so, it must be considered when evaluating T & A hyperplasia.