Vertical changes in patients with complete unilateral and bilateral cleft lip, alveolus and palate

Twelve UCLP and eleven BCLP patients who had been treated according to the Hanover treatment protocol were evaluated by means of cephalometric analysis and cast measurements. The aim of this investigation was to demonstrate changes in the vertical plane and in incisor position in the course of craniofacial growth compared to age-matched non-cleft controls. Lateral cephalograms and casts were analyzed for each cleft patient at age 10 and 15 and compared with corresponding data of a non-cleft control group (n = 20).

A vertical growth impairment of the maxilla was registered in patients with cleft lip, alveolus and palate. The maxilla of the cleft patients showed a significant clockwise rotation while the inclination of the mandible remained virtually unchanged. Both upper and lower incisors, which were significantly retruded at the beginning of the late mixed dentition, could be protruded in the course of craniofacial growth, development of the dentition and treatment, but remained retruded in comparison with the non-cleft controls. The posterior midfacial height was highly significantly shorter in both UCLP and BCLP patients at both evaluation timepoints, whereas the anterior lower jaw height was greater than in the control group