Does long term parenteral nutrition in children have an impact on malocclusion? Preliminary report.

Aim: To evaluate the impact of long-term partial parenteral nutrition and its complications on malocclusion in children and adolescents.

Material And Methods: The assessment involved 61 patients (2.25 to16 years of age) without a masticatory parafunction - i.e. 31 subjects receiving parenteral nutrition for a mean period of 5.71±2.87 years, and 30 healthy control subjects. The medical records provided information on the delivery (full-term, preterm), birth body mass, Apgar score, weight deficiency at the age of 1 year; the patient assessment included the current body mass, the number of enteral meals per day and parenteral meals per week, occlusion (acc.to Orlik-Grzybowska's parameters). The statistical analysis was performed by using the chi-square test, Spearman's correlation analysis; the statistical significance was p<0.05.

Results: Premature infants with low birth body mass (38.7%), Apgar score below 7 (25.8%), underweight in the first year of life (74.2%) and on examination day (58.1%) were only part of the test group. Mean number of eaten meals: 4.63±1.88 in parenteral nutrition patients, 6.26±1.39 in healthy individuals in the control group. Malocclusions were significantly more frequent in the children receiving parenteral nutrition (38.71%: the most frequent defects included crossbite (19.31%), open bite malocclusion (12.9%), crowding of teeth (9.67%), than in the control group (13.3%: crossbite (3.3%), open bite malocclusion (3.3), crowding of teeth (3.3%). A correlation was statistically proved between the malocclusion and parenteral nutrition, the number of parenteral feeding sessions per week, the current low body mass.

Conclusion: Long-term parenteral nutrition, a decreased number of oral meals and a coexistent low body mass at the developmental age may contribute to the development of malocclusion.