The Use of Artificial Intelligence in Cleft Care: A Scoping Review

Introduction: Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly being used to support the diagnosis and treatment of medical and surgical conditions. This scoping review examined AI applications in cleft lip and palate care, focusing on diagnosis/detection, surgical planning, and patient education. Methods: PubMed, Embase, and Scopus databases were searched. Results were uploaded to the Covidence systematic review software. Studies were included in the analysis if they described the use of AI in the context of cleft lip and palate diagnosis and detection, surgical planning, or patient education. Results: A total of 17 papers were identified. The use of AI in the context of cleft lip and palate surgery was recorded and collated. AI was found to enhance diagnostic accuracy and speed through deep learning-based image classification and cephalometric landmark detection, particularly using convolutional neural networks. In surgical planning, AI models enabled automated presurgical plate design, severity grading, and postoperative outcome evaluation following orthognathic surgery. For patient education, large language models like ChatGPT show promise in improving the readability and clarity of materials, although challenges remain in maintaining medical accuracy and ensuring actionability. Conclusion: While AI applications in cleft lip and palate care are promising across diagnostic, surgical, and educational domains, translation into routine clinical practice is hindered by limited validation, small homogeneous datasets, and inconsistent methodologies. Future research should focus on clinical integration, standardized evaluation, equity, and interdisciplinary collaboration to optimize the potential of AI in cleft lip and palate care.