Occlusal and Functional Improvement of Patients With Midfacial Hypoplasia Corrected Using Intraoral Tooth-Borne Mid-Maxillary Osteodistractors at Teaching Hospital-Karapitiya, Sri Lanka

Mid-maxillary osteodistraction (MMOD) is a novel technique. This study seeks to assess the occlusal and functional improvement of patients with midfacial hypoplasia secondary to cleft lip and palate.

This was done as a retrospective study at the Regional Cleft Centre of the Teaching Hospital-Karapitiya (THK).

A total of 81 patient records were accessed on those who underwent MMOD with a tooth-borne intraoral device from January 1, 2007, to December 31, 2016, at THK.

Records of the patients included pre- and post-treatment lateral cephalograms, study models, speech assessments, and photographs.

An advancement ranging from 5 to 12 mm (mean, 8.14 mm) was achieved in all patients; 80% (n = 63) and 87.65% (n = 71) showed improvement in consonant production and quality of speech. These were statistically significant (P < .05). With regard to the Peer Assessment Rating score assessing the occlusal improvement, 97.6% showed an improvement whereas only 2 patients showed no improvement. There was a significant improvement in sella (S), nasion (N), and point A (SNA) angle; point A, the nasion, and point B (ANB) angle; and the maxillary length over the treatment period (P < .05). The change in the ANB angle and maxillary length significantly differed between genders with males having a comparatively higher improvement. The profile improvements were noteworthy on the profile photographs.

This relatively novel approach to maxillary advancement by maxillary distraction using a combined surgical and modified orthodontic technique has proven to be successful. This protocol and the technique have improved function, occlusion, and the aesthetics.