Associations between orthopaedic disturbances and unilateral crossbite in children with asymmetry of the upper cervical spine
* Department of Orthodontics, Center of Dental and Oral Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg
** Child Orthopaedic Center, Eckenfoerde
*** Private Practice for Orthopaedics and Chiropractice, Hamburg, Germany
Address for correspondence Dr Heike Korbmacher, Department of Orthodontics, Center of Dental and Oral Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistrasse 52, D-20246 Hamburg, Germany, E-mail: korbmacher{at}uke.uni-hamburg.de
 |
Abstract |
|---|
The objective of the present study was to detect possible associations between unilateral crossbite and orthopaedic disturbances in children with asymmetry of the upper cervical spine.
Fifty-five children aged 3–10 years (22 girls and 33 boys) with a unilateral crossbite and 55 gender- and age-matched children with a symmetric occlusion but no crossbite, who served as the control group, were selected from an orthopaedic cohort of 240 patients. In all children, asymmetry of the upper cervical region was confirmed by radiographs and palpation. The following orthopaedic aspects were investigated: oblique shoulder and pelvis, scoliosis, functional leg length difference, and laxity of ligaments of the foot. The differences between the groups were analysed by means of an unpaired t-test.
An increased occurrence of orthopaedic parameters in the frontal plane was observed in children with a unilateral malocclusion. A unilateral crossbite was not necessarily combined with a pathological orthopaedic variable, but statistically, children with a unilateral malocclusion showed more often an oblique shoulder (P = 0.004), scoliosis (P = 0.04), an oblique pelvis (P = 0.007), and a functional leg length difference (P = 0.002) than children with symmetry.
The results suggest that a unilateral crossbite in children with asymmetry of the upper cervical spine is associated with orthopaedic disturbances. There is no evidence of a causal link.
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  J. Primozic, M. Ovsenik, S. Richmond, C. H. Kau, and A. Zhurov Early crossbite correction: a three-dimensional evaluation Eur J Orthod, August 1, 2009; 31(4): 352 - 356. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|