Natal and neonatal teeth among cleft lip and palate infants

Natal/neonatal teeth are reported to be more common among clefts and congenital anomalies. Data exclusively among clefts is sparse. The aim was to evaluate prevalence of natal teeth among cleft lip and palate neonates and review the causes, presentation, associated anomalies, complications and management.

Out of 641operated patients, records of 151 infants with cleft lip and palate with less than three months of age presented to the department of plastic and reconstructive surgery from 2005 to 2011 were reviewed. Out of which 107 were unilateral complete lip and palate (ULCP), 15 bilateral cleft lip and isolated cleft palate constituted 29.

Three patients among the studied records showed neonatal teeth. Two had paired central mandibular incisor teeth along with associated other anomalies and one had a single maxillary neonatal tooth. All were present in unilateral cleft lip and none of the bilateral or isolated cleft palate infants showed neonatal teeth. The overall incidence of neonatal teeth was 1.98% and 2.8% in unilateral Cleft lip.

Our study supports the incidence of 2% natal teeth among UCLP. Involvement of mandibular central incisors in contrast to the notion that maxillary alveolus is more commonly affected suggest that it is not only the anatomical disturbance but also all those possible common multifactorial etiological factors contributing to the congenital anomalies as such. Natal/neonatal teeth are rather under-diagnosed and reported than a rare phenomenon and the prevalence is higher in certain population. Riga-Fede disease unlikely to be seen in clefts with neonatal teeth due to anatomical factors. The extraction of non mobile tooth if necessary can be done during the primary surgery for the cleft lip.