Secondary Dentition Characteristics in Children With Nonsyndromic Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate: A Retrospective Study

Objective: Children with cleft lip and palate are reported to be commonly associated with higher prevalence of dental anomalies such as hypodontia, supernumeraries, and abnormalities in tooth size, shape, and position. This study investigated the prevalence of dental anomalies in a longitudinal cohort of children with unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP). Design: The study was a retrospective analysis of radiographs, study models, and treatment notes. Patients: Sixty patients with repaired UCLP aged 13 years old with complete dental records dating from 5 years of age were included. Methods: Study casts, dental panoramic, anterior maxillary occlusal, and periapical radiographs of the patients were examined for cleft-sidedness, congenitally missing permanent teeth, supernumerary teeth, microdontic, and macrodontic teeth in the anterior maxillary region, presence of malformed permanent cleft-sided lateral incisor and its morphology (peg-shaped, conical shaped, canine-formed), positions of the permanent lateral incisors relative to the cleft side and presence of rotated cleft-sided central incisors. Results: Of the 60 patients studied, 63.3% had hypodontia, 21.7% had supernumerary teeth, 69.6% had microdontia, and 12.5% had macrodontia. All of the cleft-sided permanent lateral incisors had associated anomalies, with a large proportion (43.1%) missing; and when present in 31 subjects, the majority (90.3%) was positioned distal to the cleft. Most of the cleft-sided permanent central incisors were rotated if present, and prevalent at 86.7%. Conclusion: A high prevalence of dental anomalies was observed in this sample of children with UCLP.