Relationship between lip position and drooling in children with cerebral palsy.

AIM This was to determine whether there is any relationship between lip position and drooling in children with cerebral palsy (CP). METHODS One hundred and sixty individuals with CP (aged 4-18 years) agreed to take part in the study. The following data were collected in two ways. Firstly the presence or absence of drooling, the dental age, the incisal relationship and lip position were obtained by direct observation of the children. Secondly other data for age, sex, learning disability and type of CP were collected using a questionnaire/form. STATISTICS This was by simple Chi squared analysis. RESULTS A significantly greater number of CP children who drooled had incompetent lips (p<0.002). When comparing CP children with drooling (mild + moderate + severe) and those without drooling there was a clear difference in distribution of it between those with and those without competent lips. This difference was found to be highly significant (p<0.005). CONCLUSION Lip position and oral seal share a potentially important association with drooling.