Effects of variation in the timing of palatal repair on sagittal craniofacial morphology in complete cleft lip and palate children.

The complete cleft lip and palate children, ranging from 6-14 years of age were studied to evaluate the effect of variation in the timing of palatal repair on craniofacial morphology and compared to the noncleft children. It was observed that all the groups early (8 to < or = 24 months), medium (> 24 to < or = 36 months) and late repair (> 36 to < or = 78 months) had significantly larger cranial base, retruded maxillomandibular relations, skeletodental and incisal relationships compared to the noncleft children. However, intercomparison among the cleft groups showed insignificant difference amongst them suggesting that the timing of palatal repairs does not effect the anterioposterior (sagittal) relationship.