Bite Force, Masticatory Performance, and Nutritional Status of Adult Individuals With Treacher Collins Syndrome

To characterize the stomatognathic system of individuals with Treacher Collins syndrome (TCS) by assessing bite force (BF) and masticatory performance (MP) and to evaluate the nutritional status (NS) of this population through anthropometric measurements. Cross-sectional study. A public tertiary care hospital. Forty-one individuals were divided into 2 groups: (1) Control (CON): 20 control adults with class I skeletal pattern and (2) TCS: 21 adults with TCS. BF measurement was assessed using a gnathodynamometer (IDDK Kratos). MP assessment was done using Image J-NIH software, by calculating the particles size of food submitted to standard chewing cycles ). NS was assessed based on body mass index (BMI). Based on the craniofacial dysmorphology, it is our hypothesis that this population present a dysfunctional masticatory system, which can negatively impact NS. Means BF values for the TCS were significantly reduced when compared with the CON group and corresponded to 170.9  ±  109.4N and 431.6  ±  134.1N (right molar [RM]) and 171.2  ±  93.9N and 427.4  ±  147.8N (left molar [LM]), respectively ( P < .05). Although no significant differences were observed, the mean particle size of the TCS was greater when compared with the CON group and corresponded to 1.58  ±  1.93 mm2 and 0.66  ±  0.52 mm2, respectively. Although statistically similar mean values of BMIs were observed on both groups (CON  =  23.4  ±  4.7/TCS  =  23.4  ±  6.1), underweight and overweight individuals were found in 48% of the individuals with TCS and in 15% of the CON group participants. Individuals with TCS showed a significant BF reduction, but no differences were observed in MP and NS when compared with the control individuals.