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Why is it important?

There is little in the literature about the factors associated with mouth breathing in patients with developmental disabilities, such as patients with cerebral palsy. Such knowledge may assist in the prevention and treatment of a condition, which impacts the life of these individuals. It is possible that early interventions against mouth breathing could be effective. The involvement of a multidisciplinary team in this context is essential. Therefore, knowing the variables that are related to mouth breathing is important in the search for treatments that are more likely to be administered in this group of patients.

Perspectives

From the results found in this study, it was observed that, in the population studied, direct intervention of the dental surgeon in changing habits (such as pacifier use, finger sucking, and nail biting) will not produce satisfactory results because the factors that were associated with mouth breathing cannot be controlled by a dental team. This study points to the need to conduct research that is more comprehensive so that the phenomenon can be explained more clearly, from the point of view of each different professional working on the problem.

Professor Lia Silva de Castilho
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

Read the Original

This page is a summary of: Factors associated with mouth breathing in children with ­developmental ­disabilities, Special Care in Dentistry, January 2016, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1111/scd.12157.
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