Early cleft lip repair in children with unilateral complete cleft lip and palate: a case against primary alveolar repair.

Abstract

All children with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate will develop some degree of malocclusion regardless whether the alveolar cleft is repaired primarily or bone grafting is deferred. To evaluate the impact of early gingivoperiosteoplasty on occlusal relationships, dental models were obtained in 5-year-old patients who underwent early cleft lip and palate repair with primary boneless bone grafting (Skoog's method) (56 children) and without alveolar intervention (51 children). The Goslon's occlusion grading system was applied to evaluate occlusal relationships in both groups. Patients with early surgical intervention to repair alveolar cleft demonstrated poor occlusal relationship with the Goslon score 4 and 5, which will likely need an orthognathic corrective procedure (50% vs. 19.6% in patients without early primary dissection of the alveolar process). Results reaffirm that an inclusion of the alveolar process into the early primary lip repair adds to the severity of occlusal maldevelopment.