Reference parameters for normality and associated factors to hard palate during mixed dentition phase.
Luana Cristina Berwig, Mariana Marquezan, Jovana de Moura Milanesi and 3 others
PMID 34705923WHAT IT FOUND
Hard palate measurements in 569 children varied by sex, age, and dentition stage.
Posterior crossbite, Class II/III malocclusion, prolonged sucking habits, and white skin color were associated with narrower palates. Oronasal breathing was associated with a deeper palate. Reference values were provided for clinical comparison.
Key findings
01Hard palate dimensions were significantly larger in males than females across all measured widths and depth.
02Posterior crossbite, Angle’s Class II and III malocclusions, and prolonged non-nutritional sucking habits were associated with reduced hard palate width.
03Oronasal breathing mode was associated with increased hard palate depth.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The majority of the sample was white (76.4%), limiting generalizability to other ethnic groups. The study is cross-sectional, so it cannot establish causality between habits/malocclusions and palatal dimensions. Non-white subgroups in some strata were small (n=3 to n=22), reducing the precision of reference values for these groups. Other potential factors influencing palatal growth, such as facial growth pattern and muscle constitution, were not measured.
Declared interests
No conflicts of interest were declared in the provided text. The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Santa Maria.
The easy way to misread this
Do not use these reference values as diagnostic cutoffs for pathology. They describe normal variation in a specific Brazilian population and exclude children with the associated factors (crossbite, malocclusion, sucking habits, oronasal breathing). A measurement outside the reference range does not confirm a disorder without clinical correlation.