Tooth abnormalities associated with non-syndromic cleft lip and palate: systematic review and meta-analysis

To evaluate the association between orofacial clefts (OFC) and tooth abnormalities (TA).

We searched PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, LILACS, and BBO, and in the gray literature and selected observational studies that evaluated the association between TA and OFC. The risk of bias was analyzed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. A random-effects meta-analysis was performed comparing the presence and absence of OFC, cleft type-cleft palate (CP) and cleft lip with or without palate (CL/P)-and cleft laterality-unilateral and bilateral. The certainty of evidence was evaluated using the GRADE approach.

A total of 99 studies were included in the qualitative analysis, and 37 were included in the meta-analysis. Only four studies were classified as low risk of bias. Significant associations were observed between the presence of OFC and tooth agenesis (OR = 19.46; 95%CI = 4.99-75.96), supernumerary teeth (OR = 4.04; 95%CI = 1.26-12.99), developmental defects of enamel (OR = 3.15; 95%CI = 1.28-7.80), microdontia (OR = 15.57; 95%CI = 1.06-228.51), and taurodontism (OR = 1.74; 95%CI = 1.74-2.86). Individuals with CP had a lower frequency of supernumerary teeth (OR = 0.22; 95%CI = 0.08-0.64), peg-shaped tooth (OR = 0.31; 95%CI = 0.12-0.80), and morphological TA (OR = 0.13; 95%CI = 0.04-0.45) than individuals with CL/P. No TA was significantly associated with cleft laterality (p > 0.05). The quality of the evidence was very low in all analyses.

Individuals with OFC had a higher frequency of TA than those without OFC. Individuals with CP had a lower frequency of TA than individuals with CL/P. No TA was associated to cleft laterality.

Help to identify the treatment needs of individuals affected by OFC, improving the services provided to this population.