The purpose of this study was to clarify interrelations betwe en craniofacial dysmorphology and collapsed upper dental arch in unilateral cleft lip and palate.
Material and Method: Lateral and frontal cephalegrams and gnathostatic m odels of 27 male unilateral cleft lip and palate patients taken at the first examination (mean age: 9 years months) were used for this study. In the cephalometric analysis,25 measurements were measured in the saggital and frontal dimension. In the gnathostatic model analysis,9measurements representing maxillary collapsed dental arch ((1) whole dental arch collapse,(2) arch width collapse, and (3) arch length collapse) were measured on the three-dimensional dental model graphics generated by the noncontact three-dimensional dental model analyzer ( UNISN VMS25OR ). Firstly, cephalometric measurements to represent the charac teristic craniofacial dysmorphology were distilled by comparison with the normative non-cleft data. Secondly, the correlation between these cephalometric measurements and model measurements were evaluated at the significant levels of 5 % and 1 % respectively. The significant pairs were examined according to each aspect of upper collapsed dental arch.
Results:
1. Com parative cephalometric analysis revealed characteristic craniofacial dysmorphology: (1) Midfacial growth retardation, lingual tipping of upper central incisor, low mandibular plane and increased mandibular length in the saggital dimension; (2) Increased interorbital distance, narrowed nasal width, mandiblar midline deviation and midpoint deviation of the upper and the lower central incisors from the facial midline in the frontal dimension.
2. In the saggital dimension, the whole dental arch collapse showed significant correl a tions with retruded maxilla and decreased midfacial depth. The decreased upper arch width showed significant correlations with decreased anterior basal height and increased mandibular length. The decreased upper arch length showed significant correlations with decreased midfacial depth, lingual tipping of upper central incisor, increased mandibular length and low mandibular plane. In the frontal dimension, the whole dental arch collapse showed significant correlations with mandibular midline deviation from the facial midline, and the decreased upper arch width showed significant correlations with mandibular midline deviation from the facial midline as well as narrowed nasal width. However, the collapsed upper dental arch showed no significant correlations with increased interorbital distance and midpoint deviation of the upper and the lower central incisors from the facial midline.
The results suggested that the collapsed palatal vault after surgical repair of cleft li p and palate influenced the following growth of the craniofacial structure resulting in characteristic distorted facial harmony.
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