Relationship between unilateral posterior crossbite and deleterious oral habits in preschool children from a municipality in southwestern Bahia

Abstract

Objective: The objective of the study was to verify the prevalence of malocclusion in pre-school children in a municipality in southwest Bahia, focusing on the presence of unilateral posterior crossbite and its relation with deleterious oral habits. Materials and methods: The research was carried out in children enrolled in public day care centers and in the city of Vitória da Conquista, BA, Brasil. After sample calculation, the sample consisted of 440 children aged 3 to 5 years. The presence of malocclusion was clinically evaluated and a questionnarie for evaluating the relationship with habits was answered by those represented. Results: We found that 94.28% of the cases with unilateral posterior crossbite were related to oral habits. Conclusions: It was found that nutritional sucking habits may be an etiological factor for posterior unilateral crossbite.

Keywords

• Cross bite
• habits
• pre-school