Evaluation of the early risk factors associated with the relationship of dental malocclusion in preterm and full-term children

Abstract

Introduction: The incidence of preterm birth has been fairly constant over the years, however, advances in perinatal medicine have increased the survival rate of children born with the lowest gestational age and birth weight. The early and long-term effects of premature birth on physical and psychological growth have been studied in previous studies. The development and growth of orofacial structures also have been subjects of interest for so many researchers. Besides poorer growth that preterm infants may experience, as part of their essential medical management, many preterm infants are exposed to a range of invasive procedures such as tube feeding, intubation, and suctioning that can further compromise the craniofacial structures. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluation of the early risk factors associated with the relationship of dental malocclusion in preterm and full-term children born between August 2007 and August 2013 at the Alzahra hospital in Tabriz, Iran. Methods: After attaining approval for access to medical records of the hospital from the Ethics Committee we used records of children born between August 2007 and August 2013 preterm or full-term. The subjects were 180 preterm children who were divided into 3 subgroups according to their gestational ages. One group consisted of 60 late preterm children (LPT), born in gestational week 32-36, one group consisted of 60 very preterm children (VPT), born in gestational week 28–32, and the other of 60 extremely preterm children (EPT), born before the 28th gestational week. The subjects were compared with a control group of 60 full-term children, who participated in this cross-sectional study. Data from hospital records and clinical examinations were used for the study. The data were analyzed using SPSS software. The differences were considered significant when P < 0.05. Results: A significant difference in the prevalence of posterior crossbite was found between the VPT and EPT groups with control group (P=0.041). VPT and EPT groups had significantly higher overbite values in comparison with the control group (P=0.005). CL I and CL II div 1 were the most frequent occlusion types in both preterm and full-term children. The duration of intubation had a significant relationship with posterior crossbite in the EPT group (P=0.036). Conclusions: The emerging knowledge‐based view of the traits and frequency of different malocclusions and related early risk factors in preterm children provides the motive and ability for practitioners to detect high-risk children and subsequently early interventions if needed. So, early detections and potential interventions could prevent more complicated problems in older- age children.