Intrinsic Effects of Congenital Cleft Palate on Craniofacial Morphology and Growth Characteristics in Puberty

OBJECTIVES Of the 12 children in prepuberty (then aged 9 years) with unoperated submucous cleft palate where we previously found a characteristic morphology of the maxilla, we examined changes in the maxillary morphology in their puberty (until age 14 years), aiming to determine the intrinsic effects of congenital cleft palate on their craniofacial morphology and growth characteristics, which also involve the formation of cranioface, by retrospectively comparing their findings and those of noncleft children with normal occlusion. PATIENTS AND METHODS Twelve Japanese children (7 girls and 5 boys) with unoperated submucous cleft palate at age 14 years were examined cephalometrically. None of them had undergone dentofacial orthopedic treatment of the maxilla. Their craniofacial morphologic characteristics were compared with those of 60 Japanese noncleft children aged 14 years (30 girls and 30 boys) with normal occlusion. RESULTS The results were nearly identical to the previous findings when they were 9 years old: the maxillary length was short, the anterior part of the maxilla being retruded and the posterior part of the maxilla being in anterior position in the cleft children at age 14 years, compared with the noncleft children. In the craniofacial growth changes between the ages 9 and 14 years, an increase in the posterior upper facial height was markedly small, and the inclination of the palatal plane was promoted in the cleft children, compared with the noncleft children. CONCLUSIONS We confirmed that the intrinsic effects of congenital cleft were influential on the morphology of cranioface and its growth changes, which also involve craniofacial formation.