DIAGNÓSTICO DE RESPIRACIÓN BUCAL EN ORTODONCIA Y SU RELACIÓN CON LAS MALOCLUSIONES DENTALES: REVISIÓN DE LA LITERATURA

Mouth breathing is a compensatory process, when there is an obstruction in the airways, they force the patient to inhale and exhale air through the mouth, it is also considered a habit because some patients breathe through the mouth even if they do not have nasal obstruction. The objective of this article is to describe the diagnostic methods used in dentistry that allow differentiating a patient with a mouth breather from a nasal breather. This literature review article compiles information corresponding to the etiology of mouth breathing, affected tissues, diagnostic methods and clinical importance in the development of the stomatognathic system. The search for articles was carried out in electronic databases including: PubMed, Scielo and Google Scholar. Articles published from 2016 to 2022 were included. In addition, 2 books published between 2014-2021 were used. In this work, 25 articles were included for the collection of the corresponding data. The diagnostic methods cited and reviewed in this article are simple to apply, do not require extensive preparation by the professional and can be performed with materials that are available to the consultation. Finally, the patient with mouth breathing presents multiple pathologies associated with their condition, requiring a multidisciplinary treatment.