The effects of active infant orthopedics on occlusal relationships in unilateral complete cleft lip and palate

Objective: To evaluate the effects of active infant orthopedic treatment on dental arch relationships and determine the effect on maxillary growth in children born with unilateral complete cleft lip and palate (UCCLP). Design: The GOSLON Yardstick was used to assess dental models taken on patients treated with and without active infant orthopedics. Patients: Two groups of nonsyndromic Caucasian children born with UCCLP (total n = 40), all treated by the same surgeon and ranging from 5 to 10 years of age, were evaluated. Interventions: One group had a Latham dentomaxillary alignment (DMA) appliance inserted at 5 to 6 weeks of age, after which a lip-nasal adhesion was performed at an average age of 3.5 months. This was followed by more definitive nasolabial repair at the average age of 5.9 months. Those patients treated without preoperative orthopedics underwent a lip-nasal adhesion at average age 1.5 months followed by nasolabial repair at average age 5.1 months. Main Outcome Measures: Randomized assessments using the GOSLON Yardstick were done independently at two separate times by three different examiners. Differences in GOSLON scores between the active orthopedic group and nonorthopedic group were evaluated by both categorical and continuous statistical analyses. Results: The mean GOSLON score was 3.30 for the orthopedic group and 3.21 for the nonorthopedic group. There was no significant group difference in the modal scores of the two groups. Conclusions: This study showed that active infant orthopedics does not affect the dental arch relationships in preadolescent children with repaired UCCLP, compared with a similar group treated without orthopedic intervention at this center.