Summary
Oral clefts are a heterogeneous group of congenital malformations of multifactorial origin. Cleft lip and palate is one of the most frequent alterations of the fusion of the labial medial, lateral and palatal processes during embryonic development with Chile having a higher prevalence than the rest of the world. Treatment includes various procedures such as preoperative techniques. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether preoperative treatment prepares patients with cleft lip and/or cleft palate for primary surgery. We performed a retrospective study involving 100 male and female patients with cleft lip and/or palate admitted for presurgical orthopedic treatment at the Miraflores primary healthcare service, Temuco, Chile, between 2003 and 2012. Clefts were categorized according to Kernahan classification. Of the treatments, 46% achieved a suitable approach for surgery and 20% required only soft tissue management. Additionally, 8% percent did not achieve an adequate approach and twenty-four percent of patients discontinued therapy. No differences were observed between age at onset of treatment vs. alveolar process approach. Soft tissue management was significantly correlated with the total treatment time and the approach of the alveolar processes. To determine the number of patients achieving an adequate approach to the alveolar process by preoperative technique, allows the clinician to gauge the effect of treatment, find and prevent problems thereby obtaining better results.
KEY WORDS: cleft lip and palate, preoperative stage, Grayson stage.
How to cite this article
FUENTES, J; SILVA, M.; CANTÍN, M. & LLERMALY, S. Approaching of the alveolar processes using presurgical orthopedics in patients with cleft lip and palate. Int. J. Odontostomat., 8(1):119-124, 2014.
