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Correction of maxillary deformity in infants with bilateral cleft lip and palate using computer-assisted design
1Department of Orthodontics, Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Stomatology, Shanghai, China.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to introduce a method of presurgical maxillary molding using computer-aided design and rapid prototyping in infants with bilateral cleft lip and palate.
Study Design:
Seven infants (4 male and 3 female with overall mean age of 7 days) with bilateral cleft lip and palate were subjected to nasoalveolar molding (NAM) technique before the cleft lip repair. The upper denture casts were scanned by a 3-dimensional laser scanner. The digital geometric data were exported to print the solid model with rapid prototyping system. The NAM appliances were fabricated based on these solid models.
Results:
The computer-aided design could simplify the NAM procedure and estimate the treatment objective. The appliances could be fabricated based on the rapid prototyping system.
Conclusions:
In infants with bilateral cleft lip and palate, the presurgical orthopedic treatment design and the appliance fabrication could be simplified with computer-aided reverse engineering and rapid prototyping technique.
