Oral habits in a group of consecutively treated orthodontic patients, using standardized video recordings for diagnosis

Abstract Objective. To investigate the prevalence and correlation of soft tissue dysfunctions documented by standardized video recordings in a group of orthodontic patients and to evaluate orthodontic treatment changes. Subjects and methods. The presence of an oral habit was evaluated from standardized pre- and post-treatment video recordings of 80 consecutive patients (30 boys and 50 girls, mean age 12.2 ± 1.7 years). Any digit-sucking habit was noted during a routine interview. Pre- and post-treatment cephalograms were traced to assess sagittal and vertical jaw and incisor relationships. Correlations and differences were tested for statistical significance using the t-test and Odds-ratio. Results. 56.3% had one or more habits before treatment. The total prevalence fell during treatment. A clear correlation was found between digit sucking and atypical tongue activity. Pre-treatment cephalograms showed that patients with a habit had a larger overjet, smaller overbite, more proclined and protruded incisors, a greater ANB angle and a greater inter-maxillary angle (ML/NL) than those without a habit. Cephalometric differences between the groups after orthodontic treatment were much less pronounced. Those with an oral habit also showed a tendency for increased treatment time/number of visits. Conclusions. Standardized video recordings improved the reliability of the recordings of the oral soft tissue dysfunctions. Their overall reduction after the end of orthodontic treatment coincided with a normalization of the sagittal skeletal and dental variables.