[Physical growth and adult height of orthodontic cleft lip and palate patients].

No unusual variations were found in the skeletal age of 38 female and 78 male patients with clefts of the lip and palate at the time of orthodontic treatment. The patients were divided in groups according to gender and severity of the cleft. In all groups a tendency towards over-average growth was found, which manifested itself rather in adulthood than at the time of orthodontic treatment. The mean height of adult women was 165 cm, 3 cm more than the average values found by Tanner. The mean height of men was 180 cm, i.e. 6 cm more than the corresponding values of Tanner. Only one man showed a body height of less than the third percentile, although he had been within the normal range during orthodontic treatment. Two girls rated below the third percentile during orthodontic treatment, but later grew up to the normal range of height. Hence it may be concluded that dwarfism is not among the factors that must be expected in the orthodontic treatment of cleft lip and palate patients.