Ten-year occlusion comparison of patients with cleft palate who received treatment with active or passive pre-surgical orthopedic devices.

Abstract

When evaluating long-term outcomes in patients with cleft lip/palate, dental occlusion is frequently assessed. Limited research exists comparing occlusion in patients with cleft lip/palate treated with different pre-surgical orthopedic (PSO) devices. The objective of this study was to compare the effects of active and passive PSO devices on dental occlusion in a single surgeon's patient population. All patients with unilateral complete cleft of the primary palate in a single surgeon's practice from 2002 to 2018 were included in this study. Patients received PSO device treatment with either a passive device (nasoalveolar molding) or an active device (Latham appliance) prior to lip repair surgery. Occlusion was assessed on custom palatal casts that were taken at 5 and 10 years of age. Occlusion was assessed using the Angle classification, GOSLON yardstick, modified Huddart/Bodenham score, and through dental arch measurements. The independent sample t-test and chi-squared test were used. Bonferroni correction of p-value with a significance of p < 0.02 was used. Twenty patients with active devices and 23 patients with passive devices were included. There was no significant difference in occlusion between the active and passive device groups at 5 and 10 years.