Discrepancy in the lower arch perimeter in patients with a unilateral cleft lip and palate: orthodontic model analysis

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to assess the lower arch length discrepancy in a group of patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP). Materials and Method: Pretreatment dental casts and panoramic radiographs of 23 patients (aged 9–19 years) with a nonsyndromic complete UCLP, without having large restorations/crowns, tooth agenesis, impacted or supernumerary teeth in the lower arch, and previous orthodontic and/or prosthetic treatment, were evaluated. All patients underwent lip and palate repair. Lower arch discrepancies were determined using the Hayes-Nance analysis. Panoramic radiographs were used to estimate the size of permanent premolars for the patients with late mixed dentition. The positive discrepancy defined diastema, whereas the negative discrepancy defined crowding in the lower arch. Descriptive statistics were presented using frequencies and percentages, and the differences were evaluated using the binomial test. Results: One out of 23 patients had no discrepancy in the lower arch. For the remaining patients (n = 22), the prevalence of diastema was 47.8% (n = 10), with a mean value of 3.6 ± 1.9 mm, and lower arch crowding was observed in 52.2% (n = 12), with a mean value of –2.9 ± 1.4 mm. No significant difference was found between the prevalence of crowding and diastema (p = 0.832). Conclusion: In patients with a UCLP, diastema can be encountered approximately at the same frequency as crowding in the lower arch. Crowding was at a low to mid-level.

Keywords

• Crowding
• dental arch
• diastema