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Elective termination of pregnancy is prohibited in many countries, even after prenatal diagnosis of oral clefts. Though some studies address registries on termination of pregnancy, many investigations include only livebirths. This may lead to underestimation of the overall occurrence of oral clefts, influencing their reported prevalence. This paper does not intend to discuss if termination of pregnancy because of the presence of an oral cleft is justifiable from ethical, moral, or religious standpoints. Rather, its main goal is to promote a reflection on how the prevalence of oral clefts has been addressed and to rethink the reported differences in prevalence. Authors publishing on the prevalence of oral clefts might indicate the regulations and practices on pregnancy termination in their countries, so that readers may have an idea of what is beyond those findings.

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of tooth abnormalities and soft tissue changes in patients with velocardiofacial syndrome., Study Design: Twenty-six patients with velocardiofacial syndrome were examined to investigate the presence of tooth abnormalities and soft tissue alterations. The occurrence of tooth agenesis and supernumerary teeth was compared to patients without morphofunctional alterations, matched for gender and age., Results: Of all patients, 76.92% exhibited at least one tooth abnormality, with predominance of hypoplastic alterations, especially represented by hypodevelopment of the lingual cusp of mandibular first premolars and enamel opacities. The occurrence of tooth agenesis and supernumerary teeth was similar in both study and control groups., Conclusion: the present results suggest an association between hypodevelopment of the lingual cusp of mandibular first premolars and enamel opacities, yet these findings still require corroboration. Future studies should further investigate these aspects in larger samples compared to control groups, as well as employing molecular genetics techniques.

Objective: To examine the prevalence of dental anomalies in the deciduous and permanent teeth, ectopic eruption of permanent first molars, and associated oral malformations in individuals with Treacher Collins syndrome., Study Design: Clinical and radiographic examination of 15 patients with Treacher Collins syndrome, from the Hospital for Rehabilitation of Craniofacial Anomalies of the University of São Paulo, not submitted to orthodontic or orthognathic treatment., Results: Dental anomalies were present in 60% of the sample, with 1-8 anomalies per individual. Hypoplastic dental anomalies were the most common, followed by heterotopic and hyperplastic dental alterations. The most frequent anomalies were tooth agenesis (33.3%), mainly affecting the mandibular second premolars, and enamel opacities (20% of patients). Ectopic eruption of the maxillary first molars was found in 13.3% of subjects. Associated oral malformations, primarily isolated cleft palate, followed by complete cleft lip and palate and macrostomia, were observed in 66.7% of patients., Conclusions: Presence of cleft palate associated with the syndrome is in agreement with the literature. The high prevalence of dental anomalies suggests a possible etiologic relationship, not described in the literature so far, between such alterations and the Treacher Collins syndrome. Further investigations on larger samples are required to confirm these results.