Relationship between Malocclusion and Oral Habits

In addition to heredity, oral habits are considered important factors in the etiology of malocclusion. This study was taken to assess the relationship between Malocclusion and Oral Habits. The sample comprised of 674 orthodontically untreated subjects, 324 males (48%) and 350 females (52%) 12 to 15-year-old schoolchildren from the southern part of Italy. Orthodontic variables and oral habits including mouth breathing and swallowing pattern; thumb, finger and lip sucking; and nail biting of the patients were evaluate. Two examiners, who had been previously trained in the use of occlusal indices, screened all the schoolchildren. The chi-square and binomial test was used to evaluate the data. A total of 589 of the subjects were found to have deleterious oral habits. Nail biting was found to be the most common habit (65.5%) followed by lip sucking (42.7%), mouth breathing (28.6%), abnormal swallowing pattern (22.7%) and thumb sucking (13.2%). Positive association exist between deleterious oral habits and malocclusions; however, there is no significant relationship between the type of oral habit and malocclusions.