An investigation of the dentition of parents of children with cleft lip and palate

Objective: The aim of this investigation was to identify whether any dental features in parents of children with cleft lip and palate can be useful as predictors of clefting. Methods: The dentition of 28 pairs of parents of children with complete uni lateral (17) and bilateral (11) cleft lip and palate and 21 pairs of parent s of noncleft children were evaluated. Clinical and radiographic examinatio ns were carried out to identify abnormalities of tooth number and morpholog y. Study cast assessment was undertaken to evaluate incisor relationship, o verjet, overbite, intercanine widths, and mesiodistal widths of individual teeth, and these data were subjected to statistical analysis. Results: The prevalence of abnormalities of tooth number in parents of clef t children was similar to those reported elsewhere for general populations. In parents of children with unilateral clefts, there was no tooth-size asy mmetry between teeth on the side corresponding to the child's cleft and non cleft sides, respectively. No differences were found in tooth widths and in tercanine widths between parents of children with unilateral clefts and par ents of children with bilateral clefts. The incisor relationship, overjet, overbite, and intercanine widths were found not to differ statistically bet ween the parents of cleft children and parents of noncleft children. Conclusions: No predictors of clefting could be identified in the dentition of parents of children with cleft lip and palate.