小児の口呼吸が睡眠ならびに日中の行動におよぼす影響のアンケート調査

本研究は小児の口呼吸が睡眠や日中の行動におよぼす影響を明らかにすることを目的に，アンケート調査を行った。2017年7月と8月に鹿児島県内の歯科医院を受診した特記すべき既往のない3歳から12歳までの小児165名（男児73名，女児92名，平均年齢8.3±2.3歳）を対象とした。睡眠中にいびきをかく頻度は27.3％，息が止まる頻度は2.4％だった。口呼吸の頻度は16.4％で，口呼吸を認める場合，胸郭陥凹，開口，鼾，起床困難，風邪，鼻水，嚥下困難，日中傾眠，注意欠陥，多動を示し，小児の口呼吸は睡眠や日常生活に大きな影響をおよぼすことが示された。
以上のことから，われわれ小児歯科医が小児の口腔を通した健全な成長発達に貢献するためには，齲蝕をはじめとする硬組織疾患，顎顔面歯列咬合異常や摂食・咀嚼・嚥下障害などの形態的・機能的な問題点に加えて，呼吸に関しても十分な注意を払う必要があることが示された。

We conducted a survey to examine the effects of mouth breathing in children on sleep and daytime activities. There were 165 subjects aged 3 to 12 years (73 boys, 92 girls ; mean age 8.3±2.3 years) without a significant medical history who were examined at dental clinics in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan, in July and August 2017. We found that 27.3% snored and 2.4% stopped breathing during sleep, while mouth breathing was observed in 16.4%. Children who exhibited mouth breathing also showed chest retraction, open mouth during sleep, snoring, difficulty with waking, history of common colds, a runny nose, dysphagia, daytime somnolence, attention deficit, and hyperactivity. We consider that our findings indicate that mouth breathing has major effects on sleep and daily activities of children.
Pediatric dentists seek to contribute to the healthy growth and development of children by care for their oral cavity. In addition to addressing morphological and functional problems, such as caries, hard­-tissue disease, maxillofacial, dentition and occlusion disorders, and mastication and swallowing disorders, the present results show the importance of providing sufficient attention to potential respiratory disorders.