Prevalence of dental anomalies in patients with cleft lip and palate, Paraiba, Brazil: clinic and radiographic study.

The aim of this study is to investigate the prevalence of dental anomalies in a group of individuals with different types of clefts attending the reference service in orthodontics for the care of patients with clefts in Paraiba state, northeastern Brazil. This was a cross-sectional, observational study. Two previously trained examiners (kappa = 0.89) performed the clinical examination of 76 patients with post and incisive transforamen unilateral or bilateral clefts, of both sexes, aged 4 to 32 years, and the analysis of periapical and panoramic radiographs from archived records of these patients. Only the upper front teeth were evaluated. Data were processed by descriptive statistics and subjected to statistical Chi-square test considered significant at 5%. Among the patients evaluated, males (57.9%) and left unilateral transforamen clefts (40.8%) were prevalent. Of the total 76 patients examined, 56 (73.68%) had at least one dental anomaly, the most frequent being agenesis (31.6%) and conical teeth (28.9%). The presence of anomalies differed significantly between the cleft and the contralateral sides (p<0.00001). The diagnosis and treatment of patients with clefts should therefore receive more attention. It is suggested that clinical and radiographic examination be performed together with careful planning and implementation of specialist services in an effort to provide early and adequate detection and treatment.