Abstract
This study examined the long-term changes in tongue and pharyngeal airway morphology of a 7-year-old girl. She had a severe vertical jaw deformity with a 17-mm anterior open bite due to macroglossia. She had already undergone surgical reduction glossectomy two times prior to the initial consultation in our clinic.
Tooth extraction and orthognathic surgery were avoided to maintain sufficient oral cavity volume for the large tongue.
After 3-year multi-bracket system (MBS) treatment, the malocclusion and masticatory dysfunction were corrected appropriately. Moreover, cephalometric evaluation during the orthodontic treatment showed no morphological disharmony of the tongue and pharyngeal airway. However, the tongue position displaced backward due to the correction of the open bite.
In this patient, sleep-disorder breathing as a result of the reduction in size of the pharyngeal airway might occur in the future. Therefore, long-term follow-up observation is required for preventing morphological changes in the pharyngeal airway and relapse due to macroglossia.
