ANALYSIS OF THE CONDITION OF THE AIRWAY USING A NEW METHOD OF COMPUTER DIAGNOSTICS IN PATIENTS WITH ANOMALY OF OCCLUSION

 

Sokolovich N.A., Saunina A.A.

 

St. Petersburg State University. St. Petersburg, Russia.

M

alocclusion in the sagittal plane is a common pathology of the maxillofacial region among the population of the Russian Federation. One of the etiological factors in the development of occlusion anomalies is diseases of the upper respiratory tract. However, in the domestic literature there is no objective method for assessing the condition of the respiratory tract using CBCT data in the practice of an orthodontist, and a clear relationship has not been established between the morphomeric parameters of the respiratory tract and occlusion pathology.

Purpose. To develop a new method of diagnostic examination of the state of the respiratory tract according to cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) at an orthodontic appointment. To conduct a comparative analysis of the state of the respiratory tract in patients with malocclusion and orthognathic bite according to the author's method already known and developed by us on the basis of CBCT data.

Materials and methods. There were 50 patients of the first group with dystoocclusion and the first skeletal class; 50 patients of the second group with dystoocclusion and the second skeletal class; 10 patients with neutral bite and the first skeletal class who did not need orthodontic treatment. The average age of all examined patients was 29.86 (22.2-37.6) years. We have developed a new method of computer diagnostics of the state of the respiratory tract in orthodontic patients using bone landmarks – the planes of the upper and lower jaw as the boundaries of the studied area. Based on the CBCT data, a three-dimensional cephalometric analysis was performed, as well as the measurement of the volume of the respiratory tract by the method of Vidya et al. (2020) and the methodology developed by us in the Dolphin program (Dolphin Imaging & Management Solutions, Chatsworth, CA, USA).

Results. In the first group of patients, the volume of the upper respiratory tract measured by our proposed method of computer diagnostics was 14.600 (12.400 – 17.100) mm³, in the second group – 9.900 (7.800 – 11.400) mm³, in the third group – 15.900 (13.900-16.300) mm³. The data obtained were confirmed by measuring the volume of the upper respiratory tract by the method of Vidya et al. (2020): in the first group of patients, the volume of the upper respiratory tract was 14,500 (12,600-17,300) mm³, in the second group - 9,600 (8,300-11,300) mm³, in the third group – 13,800 (13,600-14,300) mm³. The average time for measuring the volume of the upper respiratory tract using the computer diagnostic method we developed was 2 minutes 10 seconds, according to the method of Vidya et al. (2020) – 4 minutes.

Discussion. According to the results of our study, the sagittal relative position of the jaws in patients with a gnathic form of distal occlusion affects the morphometric characteristics of the respiratory tract. The data obtained are consistent with earlier studies, which found that a decrease in the value of the SNB angle and an increase in the value of the ANB angle in distal occlusion are accompanied by functional disorders of the respiratory tract.

Conclusions. Thus, in patients with a distal gnathic bite, a decrease in the volume of the airways is observed against the background of retroposition of the lower jaw. The proposed  method  for

 

computer diagnostics of the volume of the upper respiratory tract based on CBCT data in orthodontic patients is highly accurate, simplifies and reduces the time of diagnostic examination of the patient. CBCT is an integral method of radiological diagnosis of an orthodontic patient and is necessary not only for performing three-dimensional cephalometric analysis, assessing the condition of the dentoalveolar structures of the maxillofacial region, but also for assessing the condition of the respiratory tract in order to plan complex treatment using fixed and removable equipment.

 

Keywords: class II malocclusion, airway volume, computed tomography.

 

Corresponding author: Saunina A.A., e-mail: Этот e-mail адрес защищен от спам-ботов, для его просмотра у Вас должен быть включен Javascript

 

For citation: Sokolovich N.A., Saunina A.A. Analysis of the condition of the airway using a new method of computer diagnostics in patients with anomaly of occlusion. REJR 2024; 14(1):70-80. DOI: 10.21569/2222-7415-2024-14-1-70-80.

Received:        21.03.23 Accepted:       23.01.24