Prevalence of malocclusions in the 13-20-year-old categories of football athletes

Abstract

The dentist can offer athletes improvement in their physical performance through the maintenance of oral health, preventing and treating any and all changes in the stomatognathic system, such as dental malocclusions, that compromise the athletes' performance. The objective of this study is to research the presence of dental malocclusions in athletes of the category between 13 and 20 years of age, from the São Paulo Football Club. 84 athletes participated in this study, dealing with the following topics: molar relation (Angle's classification); presence of overbite; underbite; overcrowding; abnormal spacing; open bite; and anterior, posterior, bilateral and unilateral crossbite; midline deviation and facial type (mesofacial, brachyfacial and dolichofacial). Only one table was made, showing percentages. In regard to Angle's molar relation, 89% are in Class I, 8% in Class II, 3% Class III, 9% of the athletes had overbite, 4% had underbite, 13% had overcrowding and 21% had abnormal spacing. In regard to the bite, 11% presented anterior open bite. In regard to crossbite, 7% presented unilateral crossbite on the right side and 2% on the left side; 5% presented posterior crossbite and 4% anterior crossbite. In regard to midline deviations, 4% presented deviation in the maxilla and 33% in the mandible. In regard to facial type: 39% are dolichofacial, 4% brachyfacial and 57% mesofacial. Based on the results shown, proposals for the implementation of dental, phoniatric, and Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) practices are already being discussed with the multidisciplinary team of the club involved.

Adult patients treated at the Department of Jaw Orthopaedics, Medical University of Lublin

“…In the USA, 80-85% of pa tients suf fered from class I den tal ab normali ties [16]. The high est per cent age was re ported amongst Bra zil ian sports men where 89% of pa tients had class I mal oc clu sion [17].…”

“…In ci dence of mal oc clu sion in given age groups. found among Ameri can pa tients (15%) [17]. In the Lower Sile sia popu la tion, this ab nor mal ity was ob served in 11% of the pa tients [8].…”

“…In Nor way the av er age age for adults to be gin the or thodon tic treat ment is 28.3 years [1] whereas in Spain -25.8 years (rang ing from 18 to 28 years of age) [21]. Lit era ture re ports have re vealed that in most cases adult pa tients are treated due to den tal ab nor mali ties [1,3,8,16,17,18,21]. …”

Sports dentistry: a perspective for the future

“…If the athlete presents alterations in the occlusion can be significantly compromising the performance since it interferes with the e cacy of chewing, and subsequent digestion of food, thus impairing nutrient absorption. e loss of muscle balance, headache, temporomandibular joint problems, discomfort and stress can also be an imbalance occlusal 10 . From 2003 to 2006, professional players of the Spanish football team Barcelona Football Club were compared with students of Dentistry and Medicine, University of Barcelona.…”

“…Despite bene ts, there is a lack of awareness among athletes to use the protectors during training and competitions. This fact is justified due to promote discomfort, breathing and pronunciation di culties, besides the possible drop in athletic performance 10,44,46 , still contested 47 . Mouthguards are generally classi ed into three categories: pre-fabricated, thermoplastic and custom.…”