[Cranio-cervical posture and hyoid-mandibular-pharyngeal equilibrium in the presence of factors related to respiratory dysfunction].

Aim: The goal of this study is to know the modifications of the cranio-cervical posture which accompany the functional anomalies by the nasal breathe of black African children.

Material And Method: The study consists of a cephalometric comparison. Sixteen parameters measured on cephalograms of 98 schoolboys from 6 to 15 years were used. The children were divided into two groups according to their usual mode of breathing: 50 mouth-breathing children and 48 nasal breathers. The mode of breathing used three clinical tests: the mirror test, Rosenthal test and nasal reflex.

Results: The results show a significant difference of slope the cervical column between the two groups of children (t student). The oral breathers have the rhinopharyngeal airway dimensions more narrowed. The hyoid bone is more distant of the epiglottis and the mandible is more divergent. However, factor analysis of cephalometric variables suggested that craniocervical angulation (C2C4/SN) is independent of the other variables in oral breathers. Its dependence with is clear in nasal breathers.

Conclusion: The children with predominantly mouth breathing exhibent a cranio-cervical hyperextension which could not closely be associated hyo-mandibulo-pharyngeal equilibrium.