title: An Evaluation of Upper and Lower Pharyngeal Airway Width, Tongue Posture and Hyoid Bone Position in Subjects with Different Growth Patterns.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It is important to evaluate the position of the hyoid bone in relation to the tongue at the beginning of orthodontic treatment so that during the treatment, its position may be directed hence overall impact on airway could be assessed.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to evaluate the upper and lower pharyngeal airway dimensions, posture of tongue and hyoid bone position in young adults with different growth patterns.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sample size of the study included 90 post-adolescent subjects, within the age range of 18-32 years. Based on the different growth pattern of the face, subjects were divided into Group I (n=30; average growth pattern), Group II (n=30; horizontal growth pattern) and Group III (n=30; vertical growth pattern). Lateral cephalogram were traced and analysed manually by the same investigator for evaluation of upper and lower pharyngeal airway, tongue posture and hyoid bone position. The intergroup comparison of upper and lower pharyngeal airway dimensions, posture of tongue and hyoid bone was performed with one-way ANOVA test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results showed that upper oropharyngeal widths were significantly different in different facial skeletal patterns (p=0.00). Subjects with vertical skeletal pattern have significantly narrower upper airways than those with horizontal skeletal pattern (p= 0.025). There was significantly higher difference in position of dorsum of the tongue in vertical growth pattern group (p=0.00). The hyoid bone was positioned farther from the mandibular symphysis in brachyfacial subjects, reflected by the larger H-RGN (Hyoid- retrognathion) values compared with the dolichofacial and normal subjects (p=0.044).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The upper oropharyngeal width was found to be narrower in subjects with vertical growth pattern. The dorsum of the tongue is seen to be placed higher in subjects with vertical growth pattern. The hyoid bone was more inferiorly and posteriorly positioned in subjects with horizontal growth pattern. Variations are seen in upper and lower oropharyngeal widths, posture of the tongue and hyoid bone position in all the growth patterns.
authors.affiliation: Senior Lecturer, Department of Orthodontics, K.D. Dental College and Hospital , Mathura, India .
authors.forename: Jaipal Singh
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Tarkar
authors.affiliation: Reader, Department of Orthodontics, K.D. Dental College and Hospital , Mathura, India .
authors.forename: Sandeep
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Parashar
authors.affiliation: Reader, Department of Orthodontics, K.D. Dental College and Hospital , Mathura, India .
authors.forename: Garima
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Department of Orthodontics, K.D. Dental College and Hospital , Mathura, India .
authors.forename: Preeti
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bhardwaj
authors.affiliation: Graded Specialist, Department of Orthodontics, Corps Dental Unit , Bhopal, India .
authors.forename: Raj Kumar
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Maurya
authors.affiliation: Reader, Department of Orthodontics, K.D. Dental College and Hospital , Mathura, India .
authors.forename: Atul
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Post Graduate Student, Department of Orthodontics, K.D. Dental College and Hospital , Mathura, India .
authors.forename: Parul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Singh
keywords: Dolicocephalic; Oropharyngeal width; Retrognathion