Maxillofacial Developmental and Occlusion Disorders in Children with Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome

• Main Author: Alexander Torres Molina
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Centro Provincial de Información de Ciencias Médicas. Cienfuegos 2011-03-01
• Series: Medisur
• Subjects: apnea obstructiva del sueño; desarrollo maxilofacial
• Online Access: http://medisur.sld.cu/index.php/medisur/article/view/1084

The obstructive sleep apnea syndrome is a highly prevalent disease that affects approximately 2% of children and is considered a complex entity due to its somatic and cognitive impact. Occlusion and mouth, skull and facial alterations associated with this syndrome are a matter of concern both for specialists in maxillofacial surgery and orthodontists, who are playing an important role in the diagnosis and final treatment of this disease. Guilleminault scoring system allows to evaluate the severity of the anomalies of the facial skeleton and the dental occlusion in these patients, by relying on the physical examination and the cephalometry. Early diagnosis and appropriate therapy reverse maxillofacial developmental disorders in most of the cases.