Sizes of dental arches in young adult patients with Pierre Robin sequence and isolated cleft palate.

The dental arch dimensions of 29 patients with Pierre Robin sequence (16.4-25.4 years of age) and of 31 patients with isolated cleft palate (16.9-19.9 years of age) were examined. All patients in the isolated cleft palate group and 21 patients in the Pierre Robin sequence group had had the Cronin modification V-Y pushback technique primary surgery performed. The Veau-Wardill-Kilner modification had been used in eight Pierre Robin sequence patients for primary surgery. With regard to patients whose height growth was nearly finished, both the upper and lower dental arch sizes were smaller in patients with Pierre Robin sequence than those in patients with isolated cleft palate. On comparison of the arch sizes, sex differences were more pronounced in the isolated cleft palate group. The high percentage of missing teeth and surgery was found to explain some of the small sizes of the dental arches in the Pierre Robin sequence group.