Three-dimensional evaluation of pharyngeal airway and maxillary arch in mouth and nasal breathing children with skeletal Class I and II

This study aimed to investigate whether the subjects with mouth breathing (MB) or nasal breathing (NB) with different sagittal skeletal patterns showed different maxillary arch and pharyngeal airway characteristics. Cone-beam computed tomography scans from 70 children aged 10 to 12 years with sagittal skeletal Classes I and II were used to measure the pharyngeal airway, maxillary width, palatal area, and height. The independent t-test and the Mann-Whitney U test were used for the intragroup analysis of pharyngeal airway and maxillary arch parameters. In the Skeletal Class I group, nasopharyngeal airway volume (P