Anterior open bite and speech disorders in children with Down syndrome

Objective: To estimate the prevalence and to determine if there is an association between anterior open bite and the presence of speech disorders in a group of Mexican children with Down syndrome (DS). Materials and Methods: The subjects were a group of Mexican children with Down syndrome (DG) and a control group (CG) of Mexican pediatric patients without disabilities matched by age. The children in both groups came from families having children with anterior open bite and children without it. A parental questionnaire, dental study casts, and a speech test were used to measure the studied variables. Data were analyzed using the chi-square test (chi(2) test), and one-way analyses of variance (ANOVA), followed by the Tukey post hoc test. Results: Prevalence of anterior open bite was 31.6% in the DG and 22.8% in the CG. The total speech errors by omissions, substitutions, distortions, and additions indicated that there were significant differences between both groups (F = 31.68, P <.001). In general, no significant difference in speech disorders was observed between the DG and the CG regardless of the presence of anterior open bite. Conclusions: No association existed between speech disorders and anterior open bite in the samples studied.