Pilot study: a multidisciplinary assessment of oral breathing, speech disorders, and dentofacial deformities in children with adenoid hypertrophy

Abstract Background Mouth breathing is a pathological condition that leads to several changes and pathological conditions, especially if it is a consequence of adenoid hypertrophy. Those changes are more prevalent when the pathological breathing persists for an extended period. Increasingly crucial for the prevention of such conditions is the work of a multidisciplinary team, both during assessment and in treatment and therapy stages. The present study aims to demonstrate the need for collaboration among an otolaryngologist, an orthodontist, and a speech-language pathologist and, in the future, to develop standard protocols among specialists to improve cooperation and to prevent the development of severe dentoskeletal malocclusion in growing patients. Methods This study presents an evaluation of 28 patients — 14 in the control group and 14 in the experimental group, all aged 4,0–11,9 years, from Sofia, Bulgaria. The interdisciplinary team assessed each child. Results The orthodontic analysis identifies dentofacial deformities of varying severity, including compression of both jaws, crossbite in the distal and frontal segments, open bite, and, in most cases, class II occlusal relations. The speech-language status establishes a high frequency of disorders in articulating fricatives /s/, /z/, /sh/, /zh/, and affricatives /ts/ and /tsh/, interdental articulation of phonemes from early ontogenesis (plosives /t/ and /d/, nasal /n/), distinguished by an articulation position in the upper front part of the oral cavity. Manifestations of speech sound disorders and dentofacial deformities are a direct consequence of established pathological breathing, resulting from adenoid hypertrophy; these data are statistically significant. Conclusions A multidisciplinary team and approach are necessary to assess and treat changes caused by adenoid hypertrophy, thereby preventing the development of craniofacial deformities and articulation disorders.