Orthognathic Surgery or Overlay Prosthesis: Quality of Life in Bilateral Cleft Lip and Palate Patients

BACKGROUND: The concern to restore and evaluate bilateral cleft lip and palate (BCLP) patients’ quality of life, after rehabilitation, is an issue that has been discussed in the literature because it is the ultimate goal of any proposed treatment. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the overall and oral quality of life of BCLP patients who had completed their treatment with orthognathic surgery (OrSg) compared to those who completed theirs with prosthetic rehabilitation in the form of overlay prosthesis (OP). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study comprised 40 patients, 20 in OrSg group and 20 in OP group. Epidemiological survey and application of two questionnaires (World Health Organization Quality of Life-brief [WHOQOL-bref] and Oral Health Impact Profile-14 [OHIP-14]) were done. The final results were evaluated statistically by the Mann–Whitney test. RESULTS: Regarding the comparison with the WHOQOL-bref, no significant statistical differences between groups were found. In the analysis of the OHIP-14, only in “psychological limitation” field difference could be observed, where OrSg group showed more negative impact when compared to the OP group. CONCLUSION: Both rehabilitations provide a satisfactory quality of life for patients.