Disturbi del respiro nel sonno relativi a un gruppo di 65 bambini sottoposti a prima visita ortodontica

Objectives To investigate the presence of sleep-related respiratory disorders in orthodontic patients. Materials and methods Parents of 65 children attending first orthodontic consultation filled in the Sleep disturbance questionnaire for school aged children. Results The study group was formed by 32 males and 33 females (mean age 7 ± 1.4 years). 14% of parents reported disturbances because of tonsils and/or adenoids. 5% of children already underwent an adenoidectomy and 1% a tonsilloadenoidectomy. 6.5% of parents reported that children always (every night) or often (3-5 times per week) move legs during sleep. 6.5% of children did not breath well during sleep and 4.5% showed apneas, 8% snore and 9% bruxism. Conclusions The use of a specific questionnaire could help the ortho-dontist to screen sleep-disordered breathing, that is well known related to craniofacial morphology, ad is known.