Clinical association between dental malocclusion and strabismus in adolescents: a retrospective dental cast analysis.

Background: The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the occlusion in adolescents with strabismus in comparison with healthy subjects without vision problems.

Methods: The test group included 50 subjects (23 males and 27 females) with a diagnosis of strabismus and the control group included 50 healthy patients (23 males and 27 females) without any past or present disturbance of vision. Dental cast analysis was performed to evaluate antero-posterior, transversal and vertical malocclusion and dental crowding. Furthermore, oral habits (mouth breathing, atypical swallowing, finger sucking) were recorded. Mann-Whitney test was performed in order to evaluate significant differences between the groups regarding overbite, overjet and dental crowding; Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric test was adopted to compare the samples. Chi square test and Fisher test were adopted for the analysis of cross-bite, Angle Class, and oral habits.

Results: No significant difference was found regarding the malocclusion and the unhealthy oral habits between the groups (P>0.05). The test group showed a slightly higher prevalence of cross-bite but the difference between the two groups was not significant (P>0.05).

Conclusions: A possible relationship between the stomatognathic system and strabismus was not confirmed by the results of this study.