Craniofacial morphology in six-year-old Norwegian boys with complete cleft of lip and palate.

Twenty-nine Norwegian boys, 9 with complete bilateral cleft lip and palate and 20 with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate, were studied at 6 years of age before any orthodontic treatment had been performed. After the introduction in 1970 of a new surgical procedure involving early periostoplasty and bone formation in the cleft area corresponding to the alveolar process, the craniofacial growth pattern of these cleft groups still deviate from that of a normal control material. The growth pattern of the Bergen-patients does not seem to differ from patients where early periostoplasty is not performed and where the hard palate is closed 4-5 years later.