Cleft lip/palate patients’ oral health status: an epidemiological study at a Brazilian pediatric hospital

Cleft lip/palate is a congenital maxillofacial malformation which results from genetic and environmental factors. In Brazil, the prevalence is 1 in every 673 live births. Several alterations result from oral clefts and affects function, aesthetics, and social life. Due to morphofunctional changes, these patients are more susceptible to disorders of the oral cavity. This study aimed to conduct an epidemiological study about alterations of the stomatognathic complex in cleft lip/palate patients at Albert Sabin Pediatric Hospital in Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil. Files containing medical records, imaging exams and dental models of 64 patients from 2005 to 2017 were analyzed. There was a higher prevalence of males, patients from the countryside and the left unilateral transforaminal cleft subtype. 85.9% of the patients had undergone cheiloplasty and palatoplasty. About 74% of patients had dental agenesis, 71.9% developed the precanine tooth, 26.6% presented dental shape anomalies and 65.6% presented maxillary atresia. The mean DMFT index (decayed, missing, and filled teeth) of the patients was 3.51. These results corroborate and add valuable information to the available literature on cleft lip/palate patients. Our results demonstrate that cleft patients present dental and skeletal alteration that need specialized treatment.