PREVALENCE OF MALOCCLUSIONS IN INFANTS WITH MICROCEPHALY ASSOCIATED WITH THE ZIKA VIRUS
Microcephaly; malocclusion; deciduous teeth.
Introduction: The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of malocclusion among infants with Zika virus-associated microcephaly (MZV) and to describe the most common malocclusion traits in this population. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study including patients between 30 and 36 months old diagnosed with MZV. Healthy infants were randomly selected with the same sociodemographic characteristics for the control group. Information about: arch type; primate spaces; arch form; overbite; overjet; midline deviation; anterior crossbite; anterior open bite; and posterior crossbite were recorded. The statistical analysis used descriptive analysis, Pearson’s chi-square test and multivariate logistic regression. Results: Forty (40) infants comprised the MZV Group, and 40 infants composed the control group. Our results demonstrated a significantly higher prevalence of malocclusions in MZV infants compared to the control group (p<0.001). Patients with MZV were more likely to have late eruption (p<0.001), atresic upper arch (p<0.001), excessive overjet (p<0.001), midline deviation (p=0.003), and posterior crossbite (p=0.004). Conclusions: The prevalence of malocclusion was higher among MZV infants. Late eruption, atresic upper arch, excessive overjet, midline deviation and posterior crossbite were the most common malocclusion traits for this population.