Hábitos de succión y maloclusiónepidemiología en la dentadura temporal

Laburpena

The aim of this epidemiologic study was to verify the prevalence of oral sucking habits in the deciduous dentition and the different types of malocclusion related to them. The sample was comprised of 2016 children from 8 private and 12 public schools located in Bauru, state of Sao Paulo. Of the total sample, 1032 were males and 984 were females. All children were in the deciduous dentition with ages ranging from 3 to 6 years. Sucking habits were found in 48.86% of the children and were more frequent in females (54.37%) and in students from public schools (54%). Children were less dependent of habits as age increased. As for the type of habits, the most frequent were feeding bottles (29.96%) and pacifiers (28.95% ), followed by associated habits (20.68 % ), thumb-sucking (9.72%) and lip-sucking (0.89%) habits. Among the malocclusions associated to habits, the most frequent was the anterior open bite (50.76%), followed by the posterior crossbite (18.88%) and by the association between anterior open bite and posterior crossbite (10.35% ). Approximately 20% of the children with sucking habits did not present malocclusion caused by habits. No etiologic relationship between sucking habits and Class II dental relationship was noticed.