Occurrence of muth breathing in patients with periodontal diseases

Purpose:  to study the occurrence of mouth breathing in patients with recurrent periodontal diseases and to describe the symptoms reported by them.

Methods:  35 patients under periodontal treatment were evaluated through a questionnaire. The Chi-square test was used to analyze the variables and the odds ratios were calculated.

Results:  18 (51.4%) patients of the sample were considered as mouth breathers. Of those, 16 (88.9%) declared having mouth breathing, 9 (50.0%) had incorrect lip position during the day, 8 (44.4%) had dry and cracked lips, 11 (61.1%) reported respiratory disease and 5 (27.8%) considered being correct breathing through the mouth without speaking. These data were statistically significant.

Conclusion:  more than a half of the sample are mouth breathers and had important symptoms of this alteration.

KEYWORDS:
Mouth Breathing; Dental Plaque; Speech; Language and Hearing Sciences; Periodontics