The effect of cleft lip repair on maxillary morphology in patients with unilateral complete cleft lip and palate.

This study was performed to investigate the isolated effects of cleft lip repair on maxillary morphology in patients with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate. We compared 10 adult patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate who had only lip repair in childhood and no palatal repair (group 1) with 30 adult patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate who had both their lip and palate repaired in childhood (group 2). Both groups of patients also were compared with 24 adult individuals who had normal occlusion and no cleft anomalies. Evaluation of lateral cephalograms showed that both group 1 and group 2 had significant degrees of maxillary retrusion compared with normal individuals. The magnitude of maxillary retrusion was not increased by cleft palate repair, and none of the cephalometric measurements were significantly different between groups 1 and 2.