At-Home Orthodontic Treatment for Severe Teeth Arch Malalignment and Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome in a Child with Cerebral Palsy

Atsuko Tamura, Kohei Yamaguchi, Ryosuke Yanagida, Rie Miyata and Haruka Tohara
Additional contact information
Atsuko Tamura: Department of Dysphagia Rehabilitation, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo 113-8510, Japan
Kohei Yamaguchi: Department of Dysphagia Rehabilitation, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo 113-8510, Japan
Ryosuke Yanagida: Department of Dysphagia Rehabilitation, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo 113-8510, Japan
Rie Miyata: Department of Pediatrics, Tokyo Kita-Medical Center, Tokyo 115-0053, Japan
Haruka Tohara: Department of Dysphagia Rehabilitation, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo 113-8510, Japan

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 9, 1-9

Abstract: Children with cerebral palsy typically have severe teeth arch malalignment, causing swallowing and respiration dysfunction. Malalignment in cerebral palsy, especially in children, worsens dysphagia and respiratory disorders; sometimes, it is also noted with obstructive sleep apnea. However, no study has reported on the improvement in obstructive sleep apnea after at-home orthodontic treatment in children with cerebral palsy. We herein present a pediatric case of cerebral palsy wherein obstructive sleep apnea improved with at-home orthodontic treatment for malalignment. We administered at-home orthodontic treatment to a 15-year-old boy with quadriplegia, due to spastic-type cerebral palsy, having no oral intake, obstructive sleep apnea, and teeth arch malalignment. After treatment, a decline in the severity of sleep apnea was observed. Perioral muscle hypertension and oral intake difficulties cause maxillary protrusion, narrowed teeth arch, and tilting of teeth in children with cerebral palsy. We expanded the oral cavity volume by orthodontic treatment to relieve muscle hypertension and correct the tongue position, thereby remarkably improving obstructive sleep apnea. Our findings suggest that at-home orthodontic treatment for malalignment effectively improves perioral muscle hypertension, glossoptosis, and obstructive sleep apnea.

Keywords: cerebral palsy; dysphagia; respiratory function; orthodontic treatment; obstructive sleep apnea (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/9/5333/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/9/5333/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:9:p:5333-:d:803795

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().