INTRODUCTION: Cervical vertebral column morphology and head posture were examined and related to craniofacial morphology in preorthodontic children and adolescents with anterior open bite.

METHODS: One hundred eleven patients (ages, 6-18 years) with an anterior open bite of more than 0 mm were divided into 2 groups of skeletal or dentoalveolar open bite. The skeletal open-bite group comprised 38 subjects (19 girls, 19 boys). The dentoalveolar open-bite group comprised 73 subjects (43 girls, 30 boys). Visual assessment of the cervical column and measurements of craniofacial morphology and head posture were made on profile radiographs.

RESULTS: Deviations in the cervical vertebral column morphology occurred in 23.7% of the subjects in the skeletal open-bite group and in 19.2% in the dentoalveolar open-bite group, but the difference was not significant. Head posture was significantly more extended in the skeletal open-bite group compared with the dentoalveolar open-bite group (craniovertical angle [Mx/VER], P <0.05; craniocervical angles [Mx/OPT, Mx/CVT], P <0.01. Only head posture was associated with craniofacial morphology: extended posture was associated with a large cranial base angle (P <0.01, P <0.001), large vertical craniofacial dimensions (P <0.05; P <0.01; P <0.001), and retrognathia of the jaws (P <0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: Cervical column morphology is described for the first time in children and adolescents with open bite. No significant differences in the cervical vertebral column's morphologic deviations were found between the skeletal and the dentoalveolar open-bite groups. Significant differences were found in head posture between the groups and with regard to associations with craniofacial dimensions. This might indicate a respiratory etiologic component in children with anterior open bite.