Impact of Folic Acid on the Incidence of Cleft Lip and Palate of the Western Population of the Metropolitan Region, Chile

Camila Jara P.; Rodrigo Soto R.; Consuelo Tello T. & Benjamín Martínez R.

Summary

Cleft lip and palate has had a high frequency in the Chilean population. From the year 2000 a flour fortification program with folic acid was initiated in order to reduce the defects of the neural tube. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of the incorporation of folic acid in the incidence of cleft lip and palate of the population of the western area of the Metropolitan Region. Information was collected from clinical records of the Gantz Foundation, selecting newborns from 1990 to 2009, corresponding to the districts of the western sector of the Metropolitan Region. From 2000 to 2004 there was a significant decrease in cleft lip and palate rates, with a rate of 0.88 cases per 1000 live births. Subsequently, an increase was observed from 2005 to 2009, reaching a rate of 1.52 cases per 1000 live births. In conclusion, the protective effect of folic acid is evidenced in the reduction of the rates of newborns with cleft palate during the first years of its implementation. However, an increase in these rates was subsequently observed, which could be due to noncompliance with the standard.

KEY WORDS: cleft lip, cleft palate, folic acid, fortified foods.

How to cite this article

JARA, P. C.; SOTO, R. R; TELLO, T. C. & MARTÍNEZ, R. B. Impact of folic acid on the incidence of cleft lip and palate of the western population of the Metropolitan Region, Chile. Int. J. Odontostomat., 12(3):228-232, 2018.