[Orthodontics of unilateral complete cleft lip-palate: point of view and personal proposals]

Studying 43 cases of unilateral cleft palate including 21 treated cases, the author notes that the lateral incisor is missing in 85% of the cases, the central near the cleft is badly rotated and there is a buccal cross bite in 45% associated or not with an anterior cross bite. He proposes to treat first the cross bite by fixed split palate appliance then to align the incisors at age 9. Then to wait until the patient is approximately 12 years old. At that moment a full fixed appliance is used; on the cleft side, the cuspid is usually placed against the central incisor and on the other side a bicuspid is usually extracted. Using this two steps therapy, the total treatment is no longer than 30 months.