Assessment of the degree of carious process activity depending on the clinical form of congenital cleft lip and palate

Aim. To study and identify the correlation between the clinical forms of congenital cleft lip and palate and the activity of the carious process during the periods of primary and transitional dentition. Material and methods. The study, which lasted 6 months, involved 75 children aged 5 to 12 years with various clinical forms of congenital cleft lip and palate. All examined children were found to have various dental pathologies of a carious and periodontal nature. Results and discussion. Children with isolated clefts of the upper lip and soft palate, exhibiting grade I and II carious activity, demonstrated a satisfactory level of oral hygiene, mild to moderate gingivitis, and a slight shift in oral pH toward acidity. In contrast, children with complete clefts of the lip and palate and grades II and III carious activity were found to have poor oral hygiene, severe gingivitis, and an insignificant shift in salivary pH toward acidity. Conclusion. In patients with complete clefts of the lip and palate and the highest levels of carious activity, the oral cavity’s buffering system operates in a consistently active mode, ultimately maintaining the stability of this parameter in mixed saliva.