Midfacial skeletal profile in early and late closure of the hard palate.

The midfacial profile (anterior projection of the maxilla) was studied in 57 white children with cleft lip and palate and Veau type III clefts operated upon by one surgeon. These patients were divided into three groups delineated by the time of repair of the hard palate. One group had hard palate repair at 2 years of age, the second group at 3 or 4 years of age, and the third after eruption of the first permanent molar teeth, at about 6 years of age. Lateral cephalograms were obtained and SNA measured. In this study it was the timing of hard palate closure, not the presence or absence of the prosthesis, that was evaluated. There was a statistically significant difference in the midfacial profile (which is dependent on the anterior projection of the maxilla) in those whose hard palate was repaired before and after eruption of the first permanent molar teeth.