NASAL RESISTANCE SKELETAL CLASSIFICATION AND MOUTH BREATHING IN ORTHODONTIC PATIENTS

1. 1. A subjective classification of the breathing pattern of each of fifty-one patients presenting for orthodontic treatment reveals that thirty-one were nasal breathers and twenty were mouth breathers. 2. 2. The skeletal classification by the AB difference method was considered to be reliable in this study. 3. 3. The magnitude of nasal resistance and the subject's skeletal classification were found to be independent of each other. 4. 4. The breathing pattern and the skeletal classification of the subject were also found to be independent of each other. 5. 5. In the thirteen subjects with nasal resistance above 4.5 cm. H2O/liter/second, a deviation of the nasal septum was noted in six, injection of the turbinates in two, and allergic rhinitis in two. Three subjects were considered within normal limits. 6. 6. The incidence of clinically observable mouth breathing was found to be greater among the subjects with a nasal resistance above 4.5 cm. H2O/liter/second (77 per cent) than among those with a nasal resistance below this value (26 per cent). © 1968.