Oral habits in a population of Albanian growing subjects

Authors:

ABSTRACT

Aim

The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of oral habits in an Albanian population of schoolchildren.

Methods

Study design: A sample of 2617 subjects, aged 7-15, was examined by clinical observation without
radiograms. The sample comprised 1257 males and 1360 females, with no history of orthodontic treatment. Aestethical frontal and
profile analysis, intraoral and functional analysis were performed. Statistics: Gender and age differences were compared by chi-square
test. The relationship between malocclusions and oral habits was assessed by t-test and the level of significance was assessed at 0.01.

Results

The findings indicated that oral habits were present in 2225 subjects (85.0), 1103 males (87.7) and 1121
females (82.4); the most frequent oral habit was pacifier sucking (30) and it was mostly present in the 7-11 years
group. It was observed a significant correlation between oral habits and dental malocclusions, open bite, altered overjet and maxillary
contraction. CONCLUSION The high number of oral habits observed in the studied sample suggest that prevention strategies adopted
in other countries could be successfully integrated in the development of an effective national programme in Albania aimed at reducing
malocclusion risk factors.

PLUMX METRICS