Tooth Decay More Prevalent in Cleft Lip and/or Palate Patients

According to a new report pub­lished in the Cleft Pal­ate–Craniofacial Journal, patients with cleft lip and/or palate have a higher prevalence of tooth decay than their siblings without clefts. The study was conducted at Damascus University of Syria. In this study, 53 patients with clefts aged 12 to 29 years were compared with 53 sex- and age-matched siblings without clefts. All subjects underwent the same dental examination without radiographs. Den­tal caries scores were calculated according to decayed, missing and filled permanent teeth. Eighty-five percent of the patients with clefts exhibited a moderate or high dental caries score, compared with only 43% of the control subjects. Based on these differences among siblings, the study author asserts that, independent of socioeconomic status, cleft pa­tients are more susceptible to dental caries, and therefore “the implementation of special dental caries preventive programs should be encouraged in approaching cleft lip and/or palate patients.” Such prevention is especially important because of the large number of children born with cleft lip and/or palate. 

Cleft lip and palate is the most frequently occurring birth defect in the United States, affecting nearly 7,000 children yearly, or one in every 600 newborns.