Clinical Measurement of Maximum Mouth Opening in Children Aged 6-12

Objective: To evaluate the clinical maximum mouth opening in children and its correlation with age, and sex. Study Design: Three hundred children of age 6-12 years, from different schools of Moradabad city were included. The participants were divided into three groups based on their age i.e Group 1 (n=100) 6-8 years, Group 2 (n=100) 8-10 years and Group 3 (n=100) 10-12 yrs. Three recordings of maximum mouth opening (MMO) were obtained using digital vernier caliper and the mean of three was considered as the MMO of that child. The data was analyzed using Spearman correlation, ANOVA with post- hoc Bonferroni test. The significance level was predetermined at p<0.05.Results: The mean MMO for children of Moradabad of aged 6-8yrs in boys is 39.87 +/- 4.91 mm and in girls is 36.85 +/- 4.09 mm. In 8-10 yeas age group, the MMO in boys is 44.5 +/- 5.1 mm and in girls 41.77 +/- 5.24 mm. In 10-12 year age group, the MMO in boys is 49.63 +/- 5.56 mm and in girls is 49.33 +/- 5.32 mm respectively. The MMO was found to be higher in boys in all the three age groups. Conclusions: There was a significant difference in values of MMO in all the three age groups with boys having higher MMO values when compared to girls. Varying range of MMO values was observed within three age groups.