Facial dimensions, bite force and masticatory muscle thickness in preschool children with functional posterior crossbite

Posterior crossbite may affect craniofacial growth and development. Thus, this study aimed to associate facial dimensions (by standardized frontal photographs) to masseter and anterior portion of the temporal muscle thickness (by ultrasonography) and maximal bilateral bite force in 49 children with deciduous and early mixed dentitions. They were distributed in four groups: deciduous-normal occlusion (DNO, n = 15), deciduous-crossbite (DCB, n = 10), mixed-normal occlusion (MNO, n = 13) and mixed-crossbite (MCB, n = 11). Anterior facial height (AFH), bizygomatic width (FWB), and intergonial widt...