Evaluation of the mineralization degree of the vestibular surface of upper central incisors with a 655 nm diode laser in mouth breathers: preliminary results

摘要

Mouth breathing unbalances the physiological mechanisms of the dental surface hydration by compromising lip closure, and, very often, causing the vestibular positioning of upper incisors. That variance leads to the interruption of the dental demineralization and remineralization feedback, prevailing a demineralized condition of the dental surface which increases caries risk. The laser fluorescence examination allows an early demineralization diagnosis, thus it makes possible through preventive measures to minimize the risk factor - dental mineral structure loss - in the bacterial infection of the demineralized area, and hence, preventing invasive therapeutical procedures. A DIAGNOdent~R apparatus was used to evaluate the mineralization degree of the upper central incisors in 40 patients -twenty of them with a mouth breathing diagnosis; the remaining twenty were nasal breathers (control group). Age ranging from 6 to 12 years, both male and female. To measure the vestibular surface of the incisors, it was divided into 3 segments: cervical, medial and incisal. The average of the results pertaining to the mouth breathing patients was as follows: tooth 11 - cervical third - 5.45, medial third - 7.15, incisal third - 7.95, and tooth 21 - cervical third - 5.95, medial third - 7.25, incisal third - 8.15. The control patients, nasal breathers, presented the following results: tooth 11 - cervical third - 1.75, medial third - 2.30, incisal third - 1.85, and tooth21 - cervical third - 1.80, medial third - 2.20, incisal third - 2.15. The mouth breathing patients showed demineralization in the teeth examined at the initial stage, subclinical, comparing with the control patients, nasal breathers, who did not present any mineral deficit in these teeth.