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Objectives: To evaluate the relationship between dental malocclusion and speech to understand the etiology of speech sound disorders (SSD) in schoolchildren and to make a correct diagnosis and treatment plan., Materials and Methods: Articulation and dental occlusion, oromyofunctional evaluation with orofacial praxis and musculature, resting tongue position, and swallowing pattern were analyzed in 290 schoolchildren between the ages of 4 and 7 years. Statistical tests were considered significant for P < .05., Results: A significant association between dental malocclusions (Angle Class II and III, anterior open bite, edge-to-edge bite, overjet and anterior crossbite) and phonetic alterations (P = .008) was observed. Sigmatisms and rhotacisms were the most frequent disorders. Malocclusions also showed a significant association with oral habits and with orofacial praxis and muscle activity., Conclusions: The presence of malocclusion can cause imbalances in the functions involved in the stomatognathic system. Awareness of this relationship in young children would help professionals to implement preventive measures for the optimum development of children's oral health., (© 2022 by The EH Angle Education and Research Foundation, Inc.)

The aim of the investigation was to assess the effect of orthodontic treatment on dentoskeletal morphology in children with openbite and deepbite high-angle malocclusion. Subjects (n = 54) in the mixed dentition with a hyperdivergent mandibular plane angle (high-angle, NSL/ML > or =40 degrees) were surveyed. Pre- and posttreatment lateral roentgenographic cephalograms were analyzed. Subjects were divided into three subgroups according to the amount of pretreatment overbite: < 0 mm = insufficient/no compensation (openbite); 0-4 mm = acceptable compensation (normal overbite); >4 mm = overcompensation (deepbite). Pretreatment, 20% of the high-angle cases exhibited insufficient dentoskeletal compensation (overbite <0 mm), and 35% displayed overcompensation (overbite >4 mm). Influences of habits such as lip sucking and tongue-thrust swallowing were more common in the openbite group. No major difference in treatment approach could be found between subgroups. In 82% of the openbite group and 90% of the deepbite group, overbite was corrected by orthodontic treatment. The mandibular plane angle was unaffected in both groups. The mechanisms of overbite correction differed between groups. The openbite group exhibited a significant decrease in interjaw-base angle. Increases in anterior and posterior dentoalveolar heights were comparable. The deepbite group showed no significant changes in skeletal morphology. The increase in dentoalveolar height was approximately twice as large posteriorly as anteriorly. The majority of children (80%) with high-angle morphology had a positive pretreatment overbite, thus exhibiting compensation of jaw-base hyperdivergency. Orthodontic treatment of high-angle malocclusions did not influence the mandibular plane angle in openbite or deepbite cases. Overbite correction was accomplished by tipping the maxilla downward anteriorly in openbite subjects, and by controlling incisor eruption in deepbite subjects.

Dentoskeletal morphology was assessed in 191 untreated and unselected children with a hyperdivergent (high-angle) mandibular plane (ML/NSL > or =40 degrees) by analyzing lateral roentgenographic cephalograms. The subjects were divided into mixed dentition and permanent dentition groups, and further divided into subgroups based on the amount of overbite (OB) as a measure of dentoalveolar compensation of jaw base hyperdivergency: OB < 0 mm (openbite) = insufficient/no compensation; OB 0 to 4 mm (normal overbite) = acceptable compensation; OB > 4 mm (deepbite) = overcompensation. Openbite was observed in 20% of the children, normal overbite in 50%, and deepbite in 30%. Skeletally, the deepbite mixed dentition group was characterized by a relatively posterior inclination of the maxilla, while the deepbite permanent dentition group had a relatively anterior inclination of the mandible. Dentoalveolar compensation was accomplished by relative increases in maxillary and mandibular anterior dentoalveolar heights in the mixed dentition group and by relative decreases in maxillary and mandibular posterior dentoalveolar heights in the permanent dentition. Positive overbite was found in the majority (80%) of children with high-angle morphology. Thus, mandibular hyperdivergency is frequently compensated for. Skeletal characteristics and dentoalveolar compensatory mechanisms differ with dental maturity and seem to be influenced by mouth breathing and other oral habits.