Dental arches in submucous cleft palate: Comparison of six-year-old boys with unoperated submucous cleft palate, with operated cleft of the soft palate, and without a cleft

Objective. To evaluate the dental arch dimensions in 6-year-old boys with unoperated submucous cleft palate (SMCP), and to compare their dental arch dimensions with those of boys without clefts and boys with clefts of the soft palate (CP). Material and methods. The sizes of dental arches in 97 boys were compared retrospectively from dental casts taken at a mean age of 6.4 years (range 5.2-8.4). The material included 34 boys without clefts, 30 with unoperated SMCP, and 33 with CP. In children with CP, palatal closure had been done by the pushback technique at a mean age of 1.5 years. Results. The dental arch dimensions of the boys with SMCP were similar to those of boys without clefts, except for a decreased maxillary arch length. There was no difference in maxillary arch length between the boys with SMCP and those with CP. The boys with CP had smaller maxillary and mandibular dental arch widths than the boys without clefts and with SMCP. There were no differences in the number of boys with permanent incisors between the three groups. Conclusion. Six-year-old boys with unoperated SMCP have similar dental arch dimensions as boys without clefts, except for a decreased maxillary arch length.