Distinct Patterns of Dental Age and Chronological Age: Longitudinal Evaluation of Individuals Born with or without Oral Clefts.

Purpose: Dental development is delayed in individuals born with oral clefts. The purpose of this study was to determine: (1) the proportion of individuals with severe delays in dental maturation; and (2) if there are different patterns of dental development timing, taking into consideration the chronological age of the individual.<br/>

Methods

Dental maturation was estimated by the Demirjian method in children aged seven to 12 years with and without clefts. The differences between dental age and chronological age between groups were compared using the Mann-Whitney test, with an alpha of 0.05. A subset of 50 individuals in each group had at least two panoramic radiographs at least two years apart. These were analyzed to determine dental maturation trajectories in comparison with chronological age to identify individuals with different patterns of development.<br/>

Results

The sample consisted of 201 children with oral clefts and 201 without clefts. Individuals born with clefts had, on average, two months of delay in dental maturation compared to those without a cleft. Five patterns of differences were identified between dental and chronological age. These distributions were statistically significant statistically (P <0.001).<br/>

Conclusion

Children born with cleft lip and palate have delayed tooth maturation and a high frequency of greater delays in tooth maturation over time compared to individuals born without clefts.