Prosthodontic Treatment for Patients with Cleft Lip and Palate

Abstract

Oral problems such as discrepancy between upper and lower jaws, jaw cleft with the defects of tooth, alveolar bone and maxillary bone, fistula to the nasal cavity, shallow palate with scar, and malocclusion can be seen in cleft lip and palate patients. In the prosthodontic treatment for these patients, prevention against relapse of maxillary bone and dentition set up by surgical and orthodontic treatment must be considered, which is a special factor different from ordinary prosthodontic treatment. However, most of the problems can be relieved or improved by recent developments in surgical and orthodontic treatment and through a well-managed team approach. Consequently, prosthodontic treatment has become more simple with minimal intervention for the anterior teeth. Thus, a fixed bridge can be applied for most of the patients and the number of abutment teeth is decreasing. This makes daily oral hygiene control by the patients easier and more efficient, leads to a long-term good condition and raises the QOL of the patients.
On the other hand, sufficient and long-term observation of the posterior teeth out of the prosthodontic treatment is scarcely done. Full consideration of the relapse of the posterior teeth is required.