Infant orthopedics has no effect on maxillary arch dimensions in the deciduous dentition of children with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate (Dutchcleft).

OBJECTIVE

Evaluation of the effect of infant orthopedics on maxillary arch dimensions in the deciduous dentition in patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate.

DESIGN

Prospective two-arm randomized controlled clinical trial with three participating cleft palate centers.

SETTING

Cleft palate centers of the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, Academic Center of Dentistry Amsterdam, and University Medical Center Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

PATIENTS: Children with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate (n = 54) were included.

INTERVENTIONS: Patients were randomly divided into two groups. Half of the patients (IO+) had a presurgical orthopedic plate until surgical closure of the soft palate at the age of 52 weeks; the other half (IO-) did not undergo presurgical orthopedics.

MEAN OUTCOME MEASURES: Maxillary arch dimensions were assessed on dental casts at 4 and 6 years of age with measurements for arch width, arch depth, arch length, arch form, and the vertical position of the lesser segment. Contact and collapse were assessed also.

RESULTS

There were no clinically significant differences found between IO+ and IO- for any of the variables.

CONCLUSIONS

Infant orthopedics had no observable effect on the maxillary arch dimensions or on the contact and collapse scores in the deciduous dentition at the ages of 4 and 6 years. Considering the Dutchcleft results to date, there is no need to perform infant orthopedics for unilateral cleft lip and palate patients.