Palatal morphology and type of clefting.

In this study, the variation in palatal dimensions, particularly for height, width, and depth, were evaluated in subjects with different types of cleft palate using the moiré technique. The sample consisted of 95 subjects with cleft palate and 68 noncleft individuals. Effects of cleft type, gender, developmental stage of the dentition, missing teeth, and 11 skeletal and pharyngeal cephalometric variables on palatal dimensions were assessed using multiple-regression analyses. The typing of clefts had an effect on the all palatal dimensions. The palate was shallower in subjects with clefts involving the secondary palate than in other types of clefts or in noncleft individuals. The palatal width was decreased in subjects with cleft in the primary palate, and the palatal depth was affected by all cleft types except submucous cleft. Gender, developmental stage of the dentition, missing teeth, and some of the cephalometric variables also had a certain effect on the palatal dimensions.