Pharyngeal airway in children with prognathism and normal occlusion.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that there is no difference in the pharyngeal airway width and the position of the maxillofacial skeleton between prognathic and normal children.

Materials And Methods: Twenty-five girls with prognathism (mean, 7.9 ± 0.9 years old) and 15 girls with normal occlusion (mean, 8.4 ± 1.5 years) participated in this study. On each girl's lateral cephalogram, the coordinates of all points were marked and systematically digitized using a mechanical three-dimensional digitizing system. An independent-groups t-test was used to detect significant upper and lower pharyngeal width differences between the two groups. Correlations between the horizontal positions of each point and upper and lower pharyngeal widths were examined.

Results: Prognathic girls had a significantly wider lower pharyngeal airway compared with those with normal occlusion (P = .01). Furthermore, the horizontal coordinate of Ar was significantly positively correlated with lower pharyngeal airway width in both groups of girls.

Conclusions: The hypothesis is rejected. The mandible in prognathic girls tends to be positioned more anteriorly, resulting in a wider lower pharyngeal airway.