Dentocraniofacial morphology of 12 Japanese subjects with unilateral cleftlip and palate with a severe class III malocclusion: A cephalometric studyat the pretreatment stage of surgical orthodontic treatment

Objective: The present study clarifies the dentocraniofacial morphology of patients with cleft lip and palate (CLP) with severe Class III malocclusion prior to surgical orthodontic treatment. Methods: The sample was 12 Japanese male subjects with repaired complete un ilateral CLP (surgical CLP group; 21.2 +/- 1.92 years in mean age). Two set s of patients without CLP Class III malocclusion, consisting of 19 male sub jects treated by surgical orthodontic treatment (surgical Class III group; 23.4 +/- 6.35 years in mean age) and 14 male subjects treated by nonsurgica l orthodontic treatment (nonsurgical Class III group; 18.7 +/- 3.49 years i n mean age) were used as controls. Analyses were performed using lateral an d posteroanterior (P-A) cephalograms. Results: (1) The surgical CLP group showed significantly smaller values for overjet, SNA angle, and inclination of the maxillary incisor as compared w ith those of the surgical and nonsurgical Class III controls. The values of SNB, mandibular effective length, and ramus height in the surgical CLP gro up were significantly smaller than those of the surgical Class III group bu t were similar to those of the nonsurgical Class III group. (2) The mandibl e and the upper and lower dental arches deviated laterally toward the cleft side. The displacement of the mandible was correlated with that of the max illa. These results show that CLP patients who required surgical orthodonti c treatment had a characteristic dentocraniofacial morphology, compared to controls without CLP with Class III malocclusion.