Fusion of maxillary and mandibular alveolar process together with a medianmandibular cleft: a rare congenital anomaly

Congenital fusion of the maxillary alveolar process and mandible is a very rare entity. A one day old male newborn was referred to our clinic with a d iagnosis of a 'absence of oral cavity'. Physical examination revealed that there was no mouth opening bilaterally in the posterior region due to maxil lary and mandibular bone fusion; and in the front there was only 1 mm of mo uth opening. Examination of the intraoral space could not be achieved. No o ther congenital anomaly was detected on general examination, The infant, wh o was fed via a nasogastric tube for 1 month, was operated on, An intra-ora l device which separated maxillary and mandibular alveolar arches from each other was designed and used for 8 weeks to avoid recurrence of the fusion. An adequate mouth opening was obtained and the infant could be fed orally.