Soft-tissue characteristics of operated unilateral complete cleft lip and palate patients in mixed dentition.

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to provide quantitative information about the facial soft-tissue characteristics of operated unilateral complete cleft lip and palate (UCCLP) children compared with healthy children during mixed dentition.

METHODS

Lateral cephalometric radiographs of 48 children with UCCLP who had been operated on before the age of 2 years were analyzed and compared with those of a control group of 60 healthy children with the same age, sex, and ethnic characteristics.

RESULTS

The children with operated UCCLP differed from the control group by having a more concave profile, flatter nasal tip, more retrognathic basis nasi, shorter upper lip, thicker upper and lower lip, reduced upper-lip projection, and increased lower-lip projection.

CONCLUSIONS

The facial soft-tissue morphology in operated UCCLP patients differed from normal controls of the same age, sex, and ethnic group. It may be necessary for children with UCCLP operated before 2 years of age to have some preventive treatment.