Presurgical Cleft Lip Anthropometrics and Dental Arch Relationships in Patients With Complete Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate

Objective: To investigate associations between anthropometric lip measurements and dental arch relationships in patients with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate (CUCLP). Design: Retrospective cross-sectional study. Patients: Children with CUCLP. Methods: Anthropometric lip measurements, made immediately prior to lip repair, were available for each patient. The dental arch relationships were evaluated on dental study casts (8.6 +/- 0.9 years) taken prior to any orthodontic treatment and prior to alveolar bone graft, using the modified Huddart and Bodenham (MHB) scoring system. The presence of associations between anthropometric lip measurements and dental arch relationships was determined using linear regression analysis. Results: In the 63 patients included in the study, the cleft lateral lip element was deficient in height in 87% and in transverse width in 86% of patients. Patients with more deficient cleft-side lateral lip height were more likely to present with more negative MHB scores (r = .443; P < .001). Conversely, patients with more deficient cleft-side lateral lip transverse width more often presented with more positive MHB scores (r = .281; P = .025). Conclusions: In patients with CUCLP, there is a wide variability in the degree of deficiency of the cleft-side lateral lip element, both in the vertical and in the transverse dimension. The extent of this deficiency may, in part, predict the resulting dental arch relationships.