Quantitative evaluation of tongue pressure in children with oral breathing

ABSTRACT Objective: to quantify tongue pressure in children with oral breathing and to describe their respiratory clinical manifestations, comparing them to the objective evaluation Methods: the study was performed with 60 children, four to nine years old, treated at the outpatient clinics of the Pernambuco Clinical Hospital, Federal University of Pernambuco, distributed into two groups, with and without oral breathing. The collection consisted of a survey of respiratory clinical manifestations, application of the protocol on respiratory mode and assessment of tongue pressure, using the Iowa Oral Performance Instrument (IOPI). Results: male predominance and correlation between diagnosis of allergic rhinitis and/or nasal obstruction and the clinical diagnosis of oral breathing were observed. There was a statistically significant difference between the groups for usual position of open lips, open mouth, sagging facial expression muscles, narrow nostrils, shortened upper and everted lower lip. The mean tongue pressure in children with oral and nasal breathing presented a mean of 38.27 Kpa and 53.73 Kpa, respectively. Conclusion: tongue pressure decreased in children with oral breathing, corroborating that which is reported in the literature. There was agreement between the results of respiratory clinical characteristics and the objective evaluation.