Impact of Anterior Cross Bite Treatment on Children's Speech Performance

Impact of Anterior Dental Cross Bite Treatment on Children's Speech Performance and Their Quality of Life

The goal of this prospective, single-arm clinical trial is to evaluate the speech performance of children with anterior dental crossbite before and after correction. Also, to assess the impact of early interceptive orthodontic treatment in the mixed dentition stage to correct the anterior dental crossbite on the quality of life of children.

Fifty children of both sexes aged from 8 to 10 years were enrolled and evaluated using the study's inclusion & exclusion criteria. before beginning interceptive orthodontic treatment, each child underwent full mouth treatment. then, using a removable anterior expansion screw along with posterior bite planes to treat the anterior crossbite. All children were subjected to the Protocol of speech evaluation before appliance insertion and after complete correction of anterior crossbite. Also, the Child Perceptions Questionnaire (CPQ 8-10) in the Brazilian version was used to gauge how the anterior crossbite affected the children's oral health-related quality of life.

Inclusion Criteria:

• healthy cooperative children aged 8-10 years
• have at least one or more maxillary permanent incisors in a crossbite relationship
• fully erupted four first permanent molars
• Angle Class I molar relationship and Class I skeletal relationship
• the mother language of all the subjects was Arabic.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Children with systemic illness or previous history of speech therapy
• children who are ill-habituated or unable to follow up
• children with previous orthodontic treatment
• uncooperative children
• Anterior skeletal or functional crossbite
• presence of sucking habits