Deforming oral habits in children with intellectual disabilities from the “Constancio C. Vigil” center, Buenos Aires

Introduction: deforming oral habits have a multi-causal origin, are based on neuromuscular factors, and are the result of voluntary or involuntary activities. They can also be harmful or beneficial to the dental health of the infant depending on the type and age; however, their impact is negative in most cases. Method: a descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in 29 children with intellectual disabilities selected in a non-random manner from April to October 2022. The variables analyzed were sex, age, present intellectual disability, dental habits, and stomach system disorders. Data were obtained from the medical history and by physical examination. Results: 12 years was the most frequent age (20,7 %), males predominated (62,1 %), the most frequent habit was mouth breathing (44,8 %), followed by onychophagia (37,9 %) and digital sucking (10,3 %). The presence of malocclusion was higher in children with TDI (57,9 %), followed by patients with Down syndrome (31,6 %) and ASD (10,5 %). Among the sample that presented mouth breathing, the most frequent age was 11 years (23,1 %), there was a concentration of cases between the ages of 9 to 14 years mainly with only one case at 6 years. Conclusions: the deforming oral habits mainly found in children with intellectual disabilities were digital sucking, onychophagia, mouth breathing and bruxism, with the presence of dental malocclusion in more than half of the sample.