12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

Orthodontic Management of

Cleft Lip and Palate Patient

Orthodontic Management of

Cleft Lip and Palate Patient

Dr. Christine UnderhillDr. Christine Underhill

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

AGENDA

• What is Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate ?• Embryology • Orthodontic Treatment

– Infant– Deciduous dentition – Mixed dentition, prior to ABG– Permanent dentition, with or without jaw surgery.

• Q&A

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

Basic Facts

• Orofacial clefts are the most common oro-facial anomaly in newborn infants and the second commonest congenital abnormality.

• Affecting approx one in every 800 births worldwide

• Non “life-threatening” abnormality, which can have significant effect on maternal bonding.

• A small proportion of oro-facial clefts may be

associated with a genetic syndrome

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

Types of Clefts

Oro-facial clefts include the cleft of the lip with or without cleft palate (CL[P]) and the isolated cleft palate (CP)

CL[P]

CL[P] CP

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

Gender

• For Clefts affecting the Lip only or Lip and Palate (CL[P]), males are more commonly affected than females (approx 2-1).

• Clefts palate alone (CP) is found in approx 1 in 2000; females are more often affected than males.

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

• CL[P] varies between different ethnic populations– Highest rates reported for Native Americans

3.6 per 1000– Lowest rates for African-Americans

0.4 per 1000

• CP only is reported as being generally more stable across different ethnic populations. (0.6-0.8 per 1000 live births)

Incidence

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

CL[P] and CP are developmentally and genetically different

• hereditary factors appear to play a more important role in the occurrence of CL[P] and

• environmental factors in that of CP

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

Incidence in Fiji

Not seen data for Fiji, but….Epidemiologic survey on oral diseases in Fiji. V. Incidence of the cleft lip and palate.J Osaka Univ Dent Sch. 1986 Dec;26:249-53.

Usui M, Tsunemitsu A, Sobue S, Nakagawa H, Shizukuishi S, Morisaki K, Ohmae H, Pal V.

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

Orofacial clefts

Approx 40% presented with Approx 40% presented with CP onlyCP only

Approx 60% presented Approx 60% presented with CL[P]with CL[P]

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

Of those with CL[P]….. approx 30% involved the lip+/-alveolus, and

70% involved lip and palate

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

Of those with CP..... approx 30% involved the soft palate only

and 70% involved hard and soft palate

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

Risk Factors for Orofacial clefts• There is a known risk in taking certain types

of drugs during pregnancy e.g. Phenytoin, sodium valproate, benzodiazepines and corticosteroids.

• There may be a link to maternal smoking whereby the risks for clefts are increased among foetuses lacking enzymes involved in the detoxification of tobacco-derived chemicals.

• Alcohol use, and specifically type, may also be a factor.

• There is debate on the role of folic acid; there may be dose dependency.

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

Embryology• The lip has usually formed by 5-6 weeks

of intrauterine life.• The palate has formed by 10 weeks• The cleft may be picked up by high

resolution ultrasound at 20 weeks gestation.

• Diagnosis is otherwise made after delivery.

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

Ultra Sound at 18th Week of Pregnancy

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

facial morphogenesis

• In facial morphogenesis, neural crest cells migrate into the facial region, where they form the skeletal and connective tissue and all dental tissues except the enamel. Vascular endothelium and muscle are of mesodermal origin (Cohen, 2000).

• The upper lip is derived from medial nasal and maxillary processes.

• Failure of merging between the medial nasal and maxillary processes at the fifth week of embryonic development, on one or both sides, results in CL.

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

• CL occurs when an epithelial bridge fails, due to lack of mesodermal delivery and proliferation. CL usually occurs at the junction between the central and lateral parts of the upper lip on either side. The cleft may affect only the upper lip, or it may extend more deeply into the maxilla and the primary palate. (Cleft of the primary palate includes CL and cleft of the alveolus.)

• If the fusion of palatal shelves is impaired also, the CL is accompanied by CP, forming the CLP abnormality.

• In general, patients with clefts have a deficiency of tissue and not merely a displacement of normal tissue.

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

• Clefts of the primary palate occur anterior to the incisive foramen.

• Clefts of the secondary palate are due to lack of fusion of the palatal shelves, and always occur posterior to the incisive foramen

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

Development of the Face (I)

• 5 facial primordia• Frontonasal prominence• Paired maxillary prominences• Paired mandibular prominences• Surround primordial mouth (stomodeum)• Neural crest: source for almost all

connective tissues in the face• Frontonasal prominence forms forehead

and nose and a short margin of mouth• Lower jaw and lip form first• Nasal placodes (and pit): surrounded by

medial & lateral nasal prominences• Nasal pit remains connected to mouth• Maxillary prominences grow toward each

other, pushing nasal prominences Medially

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

Development of the Face (II)

• Medial nasal prominences merge with each other and with lateral nasal & maxillary prominences

• Nasolacrimal groove: between lateral nasal and maxillary prominences

• Becomes nasolacrimal duct• Intermaxillary segment• Merger of medial nasal

prominences• Gives rise to philtrum,

premaxillary bones, primary palate

From Moore, 1982

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

Development of the Palate: 1. Primary Palate

•

Palatal development beginsin week 5, but weeks 6-9are most critical

• Formation of intermaxillarysegment from mergedmedial nasal prominences

• Primary palate forms frommedian palatine process

• Ossifies as the premaxillaryportion of the maxilla

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

CP is a partial or total lack of fusion of palatal shelves.

It is thought to occur in a number of ways:

• Defective growth of palatal shelves • Failure of the shelves to attain a horizontal position • Lack of contact between shelves • Rupture after fusion of shelves• The secondary palate develops from the right and

left palatal processes. Fusion of palatal shelves begins at the 8th week of the foetal period and continues usually until the 12th week. One hypothesis is that a threshold exists beyond which delayed movement of palatal shelves does not allow closure to take place, and this results in a CP.

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

Development of the Palate: 2. Secondary Palate

• Lateral palatine processes• Ingrowths from maxillary

prominences• Eventually project horizontally above

the tongue• Fuse with each other, primary palate

and nasal septum• Nasal septum• Downgrowth of med. nas. promin.• Fusion with lateral palatin processes

starts anteriorly, then moves back• Hard palate• Primary palate: premaxilla• Lateral palatine processes: maxilla• Soft palate: unossified portion of

lateral palatine processes

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

Treatment

Cleft Lip and Palate patients present a multitude of problems:

Functional Impairment• Suckling• Swallowing• Speech• Hearing• Malocclusion

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

Aesthetic Compromise

• Physiological implications

• Sociological implications

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

Long list of list of procedures these children undergo

• Neonatal orthopaedics-orthodontist• 3-12 months repair of lip and anterior maxilla-

plastic surgeon• 9-18 months repair palate-plastic surgeon• 5 yrs revision of lip repair-plastic surgeon• Grommets placed due to ‘glue ear’- ENT• 7-10 yrs orthodontics/ ABG / repair OAF- oral

surgeon• 12-18 yrs orthodontics/orthognathic surgery

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

11 month old girl cleft lip repair

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

Successful treatment requires a multidisciplinary approach

•No doubt this is required.…however,

no consensus in sequence and

timing due to:– Lack of randomised clinical trials

comparing outcomes, effects of timing etc– Treatment sequence and timing not

always problem specific.

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

Orthodontic treatment:- performed at different stages of development.

• Neonatal maxillary orthopaedics as an infant• Orthodontic-orthopaedics in deciduous

dentition.• Orthodontics in the mixed dentition.• Orthodontics alone or in conjunction with

maxillofacial surgery (+/_distraction osteogenesis) in the permanent dentition.

(Patients with cleft of lip only or soft palate only, defect will not effect dentition.)

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

Neonatal Orthopaedics

• Performed on new born before surgical repair of lip.

• Rationale...realignment of the collapsed segments before surgery

• Either simple passive, active orthopaedic, extra orally activated, pin retained

• Considerable debate re true long-term benefits but……

• Definitely makes lip and anterior palate surgery easier at the time.

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

Pre surgical plates, moulding plates, feeding plates…….

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

Feeding plates to assist in early feeding

• Obturator plate

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

NAM Nasoalveolar moulding

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

Orthodontic orthopaedic treatment in the deciduous dentition

• In vicinity of cleft alveolus ….delayed eruption, malformation or absence of deciduous lateral incisor

• Unilateral or bilateral cross bites often present…often associated with functional shift.

• soft tissue drape often disguises skeletal defect at this stage.

• Treat with expansion now.. Together with protraction headgear to ‘develop the maxilla’

• Definitely effective at the time…can exhaust patient cooperation

• No solid data that in the long term benefits

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

Mixed dentition…common since event of alveolar bone grafts (ABG)• Requires careful assessment of problem, risks

and benefits• Timing of treatment closely related to timing of

planed bone graft.. either before lateral incisor erupts (argued can effect maxillary growth), or before canine erupts

• When root of canine 1/3 to ½ developed.• Orthodontic treatment involves expansion to

develop favourable arch form, alignment ..care not to move roots into cleft defect.. correct root angulation post grafting

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

Repaired cleft palate in 8 year old

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

Quadhelix to expand prior to ABG

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

angle brackets to keep roots away from cleft

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

Alveolar bone grafting (ABG)

• Provides continuity of alveolar ridge…• Provides bone for canine to erupt • Osseous support for adjacent teeth• Majority of canines erupt spontaneously…others

require surgical exposure often in combination with orthodontics.

• The erupting teeth often appear to then stimulate the formation of new alveolar bone

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

Elimination of the residual alveolar cleft by secondary bone grafting and subsequent orthodontic treatment.

Cleft Palate J. 1986 Jul;23(3):175-205Bergland O, Semb G, Abyholm FE.

• Assessed 450 grafted cleft sites. • In 292 of the cases, the canine had reached its final position in the arch,

which allowed a four-group semi quantitative assessment of the newly obtained interdental septum on dental radiographs.

• The best results have been achieved in cases where the bone graft was carried out prior to the eruption of the canine. In this group, a normal (category I) interdental septal height was achieved in 64%

• Slightly lower (category II) interdental septal height in 32%• Interdental septal height classified as type I and II were considered to be

acceptable (96%) • The cleft space was closed in 90 percent of the cases.

• No significant difference between unilateral and bilateral cases was found. When the same procedure was carried out after eruption of the canine, the results were less favorable

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

Long-term results after secondary bone grafting of

alveolar clefts

J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 1987 Nov;45(11):913-9Enemark H, Sindet-Pedersen S, Bundgaard M.

• The aim of this study was longitudinally to evaluate the treatment results after secondary bone grafting in 224 cleft patients with an observation period of more than four years.

• Group A included 94 patients with a mean age of 10 years, operated before eruption of the canine; group B included 72 patients with a mean age of 13.1 years operated after eruption of the canine; and group C included 58 patients operated after the age of 16 years (mean age, 20.4 years).

• The evaluation of the treatment results included longitudinal comparison of marginal bone level, periodontal status on cleft-related teeth, dental status in the bone grafted region, aesthetical and functional properties of the reconstructed alveolar process, as well as the influence on growth of the maxilla.

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

erupted canine

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

Orthodontics in the permanent dentition

• Orthodontics alone... adolescent.

• Orthodontics in conjunction with orthognathic/distraction surgery... adults.

• Long term retention especially important.

• Long term stability of results???…

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

Adolescent Adolescent treatmenttreatment

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

Adult treatment-Orthognathic surgery

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

In Summary

• Oro facial clefts require a multidisciplinary approach

• Treatment extends over many years and risks exhausting patient cooperation

• Need to keep the patients best interests in mind.

12th July 2008 Dr. Christine Underhill

Thanks

I would like to thank:• Dr Kit Chan, Consultant Orthodontist at the

Westmead Children's Hospital in Sydney.• Dr Peter Fowler, Consultant Orthodontist,

Christchurch Hospital New Zealand.

for all their help, advise, and photo’s !

My husband and sons for teaching me how to use power point!