Early Maxillary Dentoalveolar Changes in Children with Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate After Palatal Repair: A Pilot Study.

Objective: To assess early maxillary dentoalveolar changes in children with unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) up to 6 months after palatoplasty.

Design: Pilot study.

Patients And Participants: Eight children with UCLP at the age of 18 to 30 months, who were awaiting palatal repair, were included.

Interventions: All participants with repaired lip were scheduled for palatal repair between 18 and 24 months by Bardach's technique.

Main Outcome Measure(s): Arch widths, arch depths, and arch perimeter was measured on 32 dental casts of 8 participants at 4 time points: just prior to palatal repair (T1), 1 month (T2), 3 months (T3), and 6 months (T4) after palatal repair. Manual method using digital vernier caliper (Zhart, India) was used for model analysis. Intraexaminer reliability was also assessed.

Results: Only one examiner assessed all the dental casts after blinding. There was a significant decrease in the intercanine width (29.75 ± 1.98 mm at T1 to 26.42 ± 1.67 mm at T4;  < .001) and anterior arch depth (9.86 ± 1.07 mm at T1 to 8.29 ± 1.51 mm at T4;  < .001). Growth occurred in intertuberosity width (38.18 ± 1.40 mm at T1 to 39.76 ± 1.09 mm at T4;  < .001) and total arch depth (24.36 ± 1.21 mm at T1 to 26.79 ± 1.04 mm;  < .001) over 6 months post-surgery.

Conclusions: There was growth restriction in the anterior part of the palate, whereas the posterior region continued to grow after palatal repair. These changes were observable even in the early months after palatoplasty.