Evaluation of the cephalometric changes of Tweed triangle in patients with cleft lip and palate

Background and Aims: Cleft lip and palate patients require orthodontic treatments during their childhood and adolescence. Tweed diagnostic triangle as well as cephalometric assessments provides important data regarding the skeletal patterns for the treatment and diagnostic purposes. The present study determined the cephalometric changes of Tweed triangle in the cleft lip and palate patients compared to normal patients. Materials and Methods: In total, 101 cleft and palate patients as well as 95 normal individuals with the balanced age, gender and race were evaluated. All the cleft and palate patients had similar treatment histories. Radiographic clichés were obtained from both groups and the images were traced after identifying the anatomic landmarks. The studied landmarks included points, lines, and plans as well as dental and skeletal angles and distance ratios measured in radiographic images. The landmarks were statistically analyzed using Student t test. Results: Significant differences were found between the cleft lip and palate patients and normal individuals regarding craniofacial complex morphology (P0.05). Conclusion: In total, significant differences were observed between normal and cleft lip and palate individuals regarding Tweed diagnostic triangle area. These differences were decreased IMPA and increased FMA and FMIA angles. No significant differences were found in terms of other indices.