Year : 2021

Volume : Volume 12

Issue : Issue 3

Address for correspondence :
Modit Gupta
freshbreaththerapy@gmail.com

Abstract

Background: Functional appliances are mostly used in the treatment of skeletal Class II malocclusion by stimulating mandibular growth through its anterior placement. Functional appliances also cause anterior displacement of the tongue, which results in the broadening of the oropharyngeal airway. This study was carried out to evaluate the cephalometric and volumetric changes in pharyngeal airway space after functional appliance therapy in growing patients. Materials and Methods: Pre-treatment (Group T1) and post-treatment (Group T2) cephalometric radiograph and CBCT of 15 subjects were considered to evaluate the changes in the dimensions of the pharyngeal airway. Paired t-test was used to analyze the changes in pharyngeal width, pharyngeal volumes after functional appliance therapy and Pearson’s correlation coefficient were used to analyze the correlation between linear and three-dimensional airway measurements. Results: Statistically significant changes were found in the pharyngeal airway volumes (P = 0.001), anterior, posterior dimensions of the upper and lower pharyngeal airway space (P = 0.001). Conclusion: Functional appliance therapy plays a significant role in the improvement of pharyngeal airway volume. There is a significant and positive change in the pharyngeal airway volume, upper pharyngeal airway width (UPAW), and lower pharyngeal airway width (LPAW). There is a good positive correlation between post-pharyngeal airway volume and post-LPAW suggesting there is an increase in pharyngeal airway volume with the lower airway dimension.

Keywords: Pharyngeal airway volume, CBCT, Functional appliance therapy.