Dental Anomalies in Children Born with Clefts: A Case-Control Study

Abstract

Objective To determine the presence of specific patterns of dental defects in a group of individuals born with clefts. Design Case-control. Setting Nossa Senhora do Loreto Municipal Hospital and Federal University of Rio de Janeiro Pediatric Dentistry Clinics, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Patients 642 radiographic and clinical records were evaluated for 321 cases and 321 controls. Results Individuals born with clefts presented considerably more dental anomalies in comparison with controls ( p = .0001). The most frequent was tooth agenesis (n = 53; p = .001), followed by supernumerary teeth (n = 14; p = .11) and tooth malposition (n = 11; p = .33). Regarding tooth agenesis, the upper lateral incisors were more frequently absent in the cleft group (31/86), and control individuals presented more agenesis of the mandibular second premolars (19/45). Conclusions The higher prevalence of dental anomalies, especially number anomalies, opposite the cleft area, in individuals born with cleft lip and/or palate is the most common associated dental anomaly outside the cleft area.