Effectiveness of orofacial myofunctional therapy in orthodontic patients: A systematic review

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present systematic review was to determine the existence of scientific evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of orofacial myofunctional therapy (OMT) as an adjuvant to orthodontic treatment in individuals with orofacial disorders. A further aim was to assess the methodological quality of the studies included in the review. METHODS: An electronic search was performed in eight databases (Medline, BBO, LILACS, Web of Science, EMBASE, BIREME, Cochrane Library and SciELO) for papers published between January 1965 and March 2011, with no language restrictions. Selection of articles and data extraction were performed by two independent researchers. The quality of the selected articles was also assessed. RESULTS: Search strategy resulted in the retrieval of 355 publications, only four of which fulfilled the eligibility criteria and qualified for final analysis. All papers selected had a high risk of bias. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of the present systematic review demonstrate the scarcity of consistent studies and scientific evidence supporting the use of OMT in combination with orthodontic treatment to achieve better results in the correction of dentofacial disorders in individuals with orofacial abnormalities.

研究目的：本系统综述旨在明确是否存在科学证据，证实口颌面肌功能疗法（orofacial myofunctional therapy, OMT）作为正畸治疗辅助手段，对口颌面疾病患者的治疗有效性；另一项目的是评估本综述纳入研究的方法学质量。研究方法：于1965年1月至2011年3月期间，在8个数据库（Medline、BBO、LILACS、Web of Science、EMBASE、BIREME、Cochrane图书馆及SciELO）中开展电子检索，检索无语言限制。由两名独立研究者分别完成文献筛选与数据提取，并对纳入文献的质量进行评估。研究结果：本次检索共获取355篇文献，其中仅4篇符合纳入标准，可用于最终分析。所有纳入文献均存在较高偏倚风险。研究结论：本系统综述结果显示，目前缺乏一致的研究与科学证据支持将口颌面肌功能疗法联合正畸治疗，以更好地矫正伴口颌面异常患者的牙颌面疾病。