OBJECTIVE: To determine in complete unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) subjects the characteristics (location, shape) of the cleft-side lateral incisor. The presence of a supernumerary tooth at the cleft side and the prevalence of hypodontia outside the cleft area were evaluated. A comparison was made of the shape of the cleft side lateral incisor to its contralateral incisor. SETTING: Hospital for Rehabilitation of Craniofacial Anomalies (HRCA), Sao Paulo, Brazil. PATIENTS: Orthopantomograms of 203 subjects with UCLP and without syndromes were chronologically selected from the HRCA data bank, within an age range of 5 to 10 years. OUTCOME MEASURE: Orthopantomograms were analyzed by the same observer according to established criteria. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences between sexes for any of the criteria studied. The cleft-side lateral incisor was present in 50.2%, and it was more commonly located at the distal side (76.5%). The congenital absence of the cleft-side lateral incisor was observed in 49.8% of the sample, and its antimere was congenitally missing in 10.9%, this difference being statistically significant. The most commonly missing tooth outside the cleft area was the maxillary second premolar. CONCLUSIONS: The high prevalence of hypodontia of the permanent lateral incisor in the cleft side showed that the cleft could play an important role in this absence. There were different patterns for the presence of the cleft-side lateral incisor.