Dental Arch Width in Children and Relationship to their Oral Habits

Aim: Objectives: To analyze variations in dental arch width in relation to oral habits.   Materials and Methods : Cross sectional  study was carried out Department of Orthodontics & Dentofacial Orthopedics of Dhaka Dental College & Hospital, Dhaka with a total number of 600 primary school children of 3-6 years ages of Bangladeshi population. Results: This study was a cross sectional study conducted among the 600 children with 3-6 years old prima- ry school children of Bangladeshi population. According to present study, bottle feeding causes significant reduction in maxillary intercanine width and mouth breathers show significant reduction of both arches. Conclusion: It was observed that the children who had used a bottle had a significant reduction in maxillary intercanine width. Breathing through mouth appeared to be associated with a reduction in the size of both arches. This was more significant in the maxillary intercanine , mandibular  intercanine and mandibular molar widths. Therefore to prevent malocclusions, the public should be informed of the harm caused by certain oral habits, the benefits of breast-feeding, and the need to correct bad habits at early life. Ban J Orthod & Dentofac Orthop, April 2016; Vol-7 (1-2), P.6-11