Survey of 429 patients with cleft lip and/or palate seen by various clinical specialties at Osaka Dental University Hospital

Abstract

We did a survey of cleft lip and/or palate patients who visited various clinical specialties in Osaka Dental University Hospital from 1983 onward. There were 429 patients (212 males and 217 females) ranging in age from newborn to 50 years. Forty-six percent of the patients were first seen in the Orthodontics Department, 33% in the Oral Surgery Departments (1 and 2), and 14% in the Pediatric Dentistry Department. Fifty-nine percent of the patients had clefts of both the lip and palate, and males with this condition slightly outnumbered females. In contrast, females were 3.7 time as likely as males to have cleft palate alone. We found that 12-year-olds who had little or no dental consultation before age 12 had more carious teeth than those who had 5 or more years of professional dental guidance.