The relationship between tongue-base position and craniofacial morphology in preschool children.

The association between tongue-base position and craniofacial morphology was investigated in 35 preschool children (17 girls and 18 boys), 3 to 6 years of age, by the lateral cephalometric radiographs. There was no statistical difference in the measurements of those between girls and boys. Posterior facial height, nasal floor length, mandibular corpus length and tongue-base position were positively correlated with age, and tongue-base position was correlated with maxillary position, vertical mandibular rotation and the nasopharyngeal airway space. The results of this study showed that tongue-base position influenced maxillo-mandibular growth even in young preschool children.