Physiotherapy on the Airway of Bruxist Children

Objective: to evaluate the effects of physiotherapy on the anteroposterior airway size in a group of bruxist children Question: Is a physiotherapeutic technique aiming at changing the head posture, effective to increase the anteroposterior dimensions of the upper airway in bruxist children? Hypothesis: The bruxist children treated with physiotherapy will present higher airway dimensions Design: randomized clinical trial with allocation and blinding of the examiners. Participants: 3 to 6 year old children with complete primary dentition, dental and skeletal class I occlusion. The participants were classified as bruxist according to the minimal criteria of the ICSD for bruxism. The children were randomized in an experimental (n=13) and a control (n=13) group. Intervention: A physiotherapeutic intervention using the Awareness through movement technique was applied to the children of the experimental group once a week, until 10 sessions were completed. Outcome measures: anteroposterior measurements of the nasopharynx, oropharynx and hypopharynx taken in a lateral cephalogram with standardized techniques.