Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Jul-Dec;6(2):246-250.
doi: 10.4103/2231-0746.200350.

Three-dimensional evaluation of surgical techniques in neonates with orofacial cleft

Cleide Felício Carvalho Carrara  1 , Eloá Cristina Passucci Ambrosio  2 , Bianca Zeponi Fernandes Mello  2 , Paula Karine Jorge  2 , Simone Soares  3 , Maria Aparecida Andrade Moreira Machado  2 , Thais Marchini Oliveira  3
Affiliations

Three-dimensional evaluation of surgical techniques in neonates with orofacial cleft

Cleide Felício Carvalho Carrara et al. Ann Maxillofac Surg. 2016 Jul-Dec.

Abstract

Background: Individuals with cleft lip and palate have many anatomic and functional alterations compromising esthetics, hearing, speech, occlusion, and development/craniofacial growth. The rehabilitative treatment of these patients is very challenging and starts at birth aiming at the best treatment for all functional demands. This study aimed to evaluate the dimensional alterations of the dental arches of neonates with cleft lip and palate after two different primary surgical techniques.

Materials and methods: The sample comprised 114 digital models of children aged from 3 to 36 months, with unilateral complete cleft lip and palate divided into two groups. Two different phases were evaluated: precheiloplasty and 1 year after palatoplasty. The evaluation was performed through the digital models of each child obtained by scanning digitalization (3D Scanner). Dental arches measurements were accomplished through Appliance Designer software. The following measurements were assessed: dental arch area, anterior amplitude of the cleft, total length of dental arch, intercanine distance, and intertuberosity distance. t-test was applied to compare differences between groups.

Results: No statistically significant differences were observed between groups at precheiloplasty phase. At 1 year after palatoplasty, the groups differed in the total length of dental arch (P = 0.002), with greater values for Group I.

Conclusion: This study suggests that the results of the different surgical techniques may alter the growth and development of the dental arches of neonates with cleft lip and palate.

Keywords: Cleft lip; cleft palate; dental arch.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Linear measurements obtained from the reference anatomic points
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Shi B, Losee JE. The impact of cleft lip and palate repair on maxillofacial growth. Int J Oral Sci. 2015;7:14–7. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jones T, Leary S, Atack N, Ireland T, Sandy J. Which index should be used to measure primary surgical outcome for unilateral cleft lip and palate patients? Eur J Orthod. 2016;38:345–52. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Freitas JA, das Neves LT, de Almeida AL, Garib DG, Trindade-Suedam IK, Yaedú RY, et al. Rehabilitative treatment of cleft lip and palate: Experience of the Hospital for Rehabilitation of Craniofacial Anomalies/USP (HRAC/USP) – Part 1: Overall aspects. J Appl Oral Sci. 2012;20:9–15. - PubMed
    1. Falzoni MM, Jorge PK, Laskos KV, Carrara CF, Machado MA, Valarelli FP, et al. Three-dimensional dental arch evaluation of children with unilateral complete cleft lip and palate. Dent Oral Craniofac Res. 2016;2:238–41.
    1. Zhu S, Yang Y, Gu M, Khambay B. A comparison of three viewing media for assessing dental arch relationships in patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate. Cleft Palate Craniofac J. 2016;53:578–83. - PubMed