Advantages of Interceptive Orthodontic Treatment; Rapid Maxillary Expansion in Children with Malocclusion Resulting from Mouth Breathing Habits

Background: One of the causes of malocclusion in developing children is the practice of mouth breathing. Morphological disturbances may occur during the growth phase in children with chronic mouth breathing. This resulting in the unfavorable development of dentofacial and craniofacial complexes. Mouth breathing in children as a condition has come to the attention of health care professionals. Malocclusion incidence will be decreased and eventually eliminated with the early identification and treatment of these poor oral habits. Purpose: The study determines the benefits of interceptive orthodontics Rapid Maxillary Expansion treatment in children with malocclusion caused by the habit of mouth breathing. Methods: Data were gathered by searching and analyzing literature from electronic databases PubMed, Wiley, and Science Direct in the 2012 and 2022 publication period. Interceptive orthodontics; rapid maxillary expansion; mouth breathing; malocclusion and children keywords were used to conduct the systematic search of the data. Results: One of the most frequent malocclusions is caused by the practice of mouth breathing which narrows the maxillary arch. Some of the characteristic features are decreased distance between nasal cavity’s lateral walls, bilateral or unilateral posterior crossbite, crowding of the anterior teeth, and deep palate.