Alterations in Maxillary Sinus Volume among Oral and Nasal Breathers

Source of support: Departmental sources Background: Oral breathing causes many changes in the facial anatomical structures in adult patients. In this study we aimed to determine the effects of long-term oral breathing (>5 years) on the maxillary sinus volumes among adult male patients. Material/Methods: We accessed medical records of 586 patients who had undergone cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) for any reason between September 2013 and April 2014. Patients who had undergone cone-beam dental volumet-ric tomography scans for any reason and who had answered a questionnaire about breathing were screened retrospectively. Cone beam dental volumetric tomography (I-Cat, Imaging Sciences International, Hatfield, PA, USA) was used to take the images of the maxillo-facial area at a setting of 120 kVp and 3.7 mA. This study in-volved male patients older than 21 years of age. Results: The study included a total of 239 male patients, of which 68 were oral breathers and 171 were nasal breath-ers. The mean age of the oral breathers was 48.4 years and that of the nasal breathers was 46.7 years and the difference was not statistically significant (p>0.05). The mean maxillary sinus volumes of the oral and na-sal breathers were 9043.49±1987.90 and 10851.77±2769.37, respectively, and the difference in maxillary si-nus volume between the 2 groups was statistically significant (p<0.001)