Interdisciplinary study of orthopedic and orthodontic findings in pre-school infants.
OBJECTIVE
The assessment of correlations between orthopedic and orthodontic data based on interdisciplinary studies is of scientific and practical interest in the differentiation of preventive diagnostic and therapeutic fields between orthodontics and orthopedics. In the published literature there are various studies analyzing the correlations between specific Angle classes and orthopedic parameters. Results of these studies indicate a potential correlation between scoliosis and Class II malocclusion as well as between weak body posture and Class II malocclusion. The aim of the present interdisciplinary study was to examine correlations between orthodontic and orthopedic findings in pre-school infants and to evaluate them with respect to preventive recommendations.


METHODS
59 pre-school infants (29 boys, 30 girls) aged 3.5-6.8 years (mean: 5.0 years) were enrolled in this study. A standardized orthodontic and orthopedic examination protocol was used.


RESULTS
The orthodontic examination showed Angle class distributions comparable with those in non-selected groups (Class I: 63%, Class II: 32%, Class III: 5%). The orthopedic examination revealed pathologic findings in 52% of the subjects, with statistically significant correlations between scoliosis and Class II malocclusion (p = 0.033) and between weak body posture and Class II malocclusion (p = 0.028).


CONCLUSIONS
It can be concluded from the results that the orthodontic finding of Angle Class II in pre-school infants should induce prophylactic screening. The orthodontist could then not only initiate early orthodontic treatment to prevent incisor trauma in patients with extreme overjet, but could also take account of potential orthopedic malformations on a preventive interdisciplinary basis in pre-school infants with Class II malocclusions.
Lippold
Carsten
C
Department of Orthodontics, University of Münster, Germany. lippold@uni-muenster.de
van den Bos
Louwrens
L
Hohoff
Ariane
A
Danesh
Gholamreza
G
Ehmer
Ulrike
U
D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008312:Malocclusion, Angle Class II / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D008403:Mass Screening; D009970:Orthodontics; D009985:Orthopedics; D010348:Patient Care Team; D012600:Scoliosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D013223:Statistics as Topic