Tooth malposition in patients with cleft lip and/or palate in a Brazilian population

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence of teeth malposition (rotated) in Brazilian patients with oral clefts and to contribute to the definition of subphenotypes. This study included 317 patients with nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate. Tooth malposition was assessed clinically, through radiographs, and medical history records for each individual. Only teeth malpositions outside the area of the clefts were included. Comparisons were assessed by cross-tabulation and standard chi-square test, and statistical significance was set at p≤0.05. Cleft lip and palate was more prevalent in males, while cleft palate was more common in females. Regarding the presence of tooth malposition, of the 317 patients, 92 (29.02%) had at least one tooth with the dental anomaly. Tooth malposition was more common in patients with cleft lip and palate (16.1%), followed by, respectively, cleft palate (6.9%) and cleft lip (6%) (p=0.112). The highest occurrence of tooth malposition was in the mandible and involved the canines (p<0.01). Few studies have investigated the prevalence of tooth malposition in individuals with nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate. Our results confirmed the highest occurrence of dental anomalies, particularly tooth malposition, in patients with oral clefts. Our findings also highlight that there was a higher occurrence of this condition in the mandible and not the maxilla.

Keywords

• Teeth abnormalities, cleft lip, cleft palate.