Final Posttreatment Occlusion in Patients With Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To evaluate final posttreatment occlusion in patients with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate (cUCLP) by comparing (1) 3 treatment centers, (2) males and females, (3) cleft and noncleft sides, (4) right- and left-sided clefts, and (5) orthodontic treatment with/without orthognathic surgery (OS).

Design

Retrospective cohort study.

Patients

Blinded posttreatment dental casts of 56 patients (19.4 ± 1.4 years) with cUCLP from 3 centers in Switzerland.

Main outcome measure

Occlusal assessment using the modified Huddart/Bodenham (MHB) index.

Results

Our sample comprised 35 males and 21 females, 46 with left- and 10 with right-sided clefts, of which 32 had undergone OS. The final posttreatment occlusion showed a median MHB score of 0 (interquartile range: -1.0 to 2.0) in the total sample and did not seem to depend on treatment center, sex, or OS. The MHB scores for the anterior buccal and the buccal segments were more negative on the cleft than on the noncleft side (P = .002 and P = .006, respectively). When the cleft was on the left side, the MHB score tended to be more positive in the labial (P = .046) and anterior buccal segments (P = .034).

Conclusions

This study shows a very satisfactory final posttreatment occlusion in patients with cUCLP. The more constricted buccal occlusion on the cleft side emphasizes the attention that should be given in correcting the more medially positioned lesser maxillary segment. The influence of cleft-sidedness should be analyzed further on a sample including more patients with right-sided clefts.

SUBMITTER: Staudt CB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9260490 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature