Evaluation of pharyngeal airway width in relation to vertical facial types in children

Jo, Seon-Gyeong; Kim, Byounghwa; Lee, Jewoo; Ra, Jiyoung

doi:2021.59.11.649

J Korean Dent Assoc > Volume 59(11); 2021 > Article

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

The Journal of The Korean Dental Association 2021;59(11):649-658.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22974/jkda.2021.59.11.004 Published online October 31, 2021.

소아의 수직적 안모 형태에 따른 상기도 폭경 평가

조선경¹

, 김병화¹

, 이제우²

, 라지영²

^¹원광대학교 치과대학 소아치과학교실
^²원광대학교 치과대학 소아치과학교실 및 치의학교육연구센터

Evaluation of pharyngeal airway width in relation to vertical facial types in children

Seon-Gyeong Jo¹

, Byounghwa Kim¹

, Jewoo Lee²

, Jiyoung Ra²

¹Department of Pediatric Dentistry, College of Dentistry, Wonkwang University
²Department of Pediatric Dentistry and Dental Research Institute, College of Dentistry, Wonkwang University

Correspondence: Jiyoung Ra, Tel: +82-63-850-6633, Fax: +82-63-858-2957,
Email: pedojy@wku.ac.kr

Received: 18 August 2021 • Revised: 8 September 2021 • Accepted: 14 September 2021

Abstract

The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate the pharyngeal airway width according to the vertical facial type in Korean children in the developmental stage. In total, 101 participants aged 7 - 11 years were selected and divided into three groups based on the mandibular plane angle. The size of pharyngeal airway width was assessed using lateral cephalograms. The data were statistically analyzed using one way ANOVA test and independent t-test. The vertical growth group showed significantly narrower nasopharyngeal and upper oropharyngeal airway width than that in the normal and horizontal growth groups. Lower nasopharyngeal airway width was the widest in the horizontal growth group and the difference was statistically significant. The vertical oropharyngeal airway space was significantly smaller in girls when compared to boys, and no distinct difference was observed between horizontal airway width of the sexes. The results from this study indicate that patients with vertical facial growth pattern had less pharyngeal airway width than the patients with normal and horizontal facial growth patterns.

Key Words: Pharyngeal airway; Vertical facial type; Lateral cephalogram