Abstract
Adeno-tonsillar hypertrophy, which occurs in the pharynx, is said to cause malocclusion by affecting the tongue and perioral musculature. An examination was made of the degrees of such adeno-tonsillar hypertrophy and the growth changes taking place in the pharyngeal airway. The data used in this study came from lateral radiographic cephalograms taken of 109 young children (3 to 9 years of age)who had never undergone an adeno-tonsillectomy and had no marked abnormality in the dental occlusion. The following conclusions were obtained.
1) Since personal differences are considered to be substantial in the size of the pharyngeal tonsils, the changes resulting from the aging of a child have not yet been clarified. However, it was observed in this study that the size of the pharyngeal tonsil continued to increase during the period from the ages of 3 to 6 and peaked at the age of 6. After that, it kept on decreasing until the child reached 8 and, from the age of 9, it again began to show a tendency to increase.
2) The airway at the nasopharynx continued to narrow during the period of 3-4years of age, showed a maximum narrowing during the age of 4-6 and then again began to show a tendency to widen.
3) The pharyngeal airway is also influenced by the size of the skeletal nasopharynx. However, during the period from the ages of 3 to 9, it appeared that the pharyngeal airway was influenced more strongly by the size of the pharyngeal tonsil.
4) It was found that the lower pharynx, as measured at the oropharynx, showed almost no growth change resulting from the aging of the child.
5) The lower pharynx was observed as having a positive interrelationship with the adenoid area and also with the airway percentage.
