Comparison of professional and laypeople evaluation of nasolabial esthetics following unilateral cleft lip repair

OBJECTIVES: The objective is to know the extent of agreement of clinicians’ perception of nasolabial esthetic compared to that of laypeople (parents). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a prospective study of comparison of clinician's perception of nasolabial esthetics with that of laypeople following surgical repair of UCL. Participants were recruited from the Cleft Clinic of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, and surgical repair of the cleft was performed under general anesthesia. Surgical evaluation was done through direct clinical evaluation using the modified form of the Christofides’ criteria by laypeople and professionals. RESULTS: A total of 48 cleft participants were enrolled in the study. The evaluation of the lip by both the laypeople and professionals was similar, and there was no difference (0.588) in their rating. However, there was a significant disagreement (P = 0.001) between them in the nose assessment. CONCLUSION: Neither the solitary opinion of the professionals nor that of the laypeople is satisfactory in the evaluation of facial esthetics; both are equally important, especially in the assessment of nasal esthetics. However, opinion of either the laypeople or the professional might be enough in the evaluation of the lip esthetics.