Tooth Agenesis in Patients with Complete Bilateral Cleft Lip and Palate

AIM: The aim of this study was to compare the number of teeth in the premaxilla (cleft area) and to assess the presence of tooth agenesis with the ultimate goal of finding whether differences existed in the two suggested subtypes of nonsyndromic bilateral cleft lip and palate (BCLP) patients. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A retrospective comparative study was conducted, where cone- beam computed tomography (CBCT) images of 22 BCLP patients (10 males and 12 females, with age range 8 to 14, mean age 9.6 years) obtained from archive of Cleft Clinic, affiliated to the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery department, Ain-Shams University, Cairo, Egypt were assessed. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: CBCT images were divided into two subtypes: Group (P) – this represents BCLP characterized by well-developed (P) prominent premaxilla and SNA >80 ± 2 and Group (R) – this represents BCLP characterized by ill-developed (R) rudimentary premaxilla and SNA <80 ± 2. The number of teeth in the premaxilla was evaluated, and the presence of agenesis in the premaxilla and posterior segments was documented. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Unpaired-Student's t-test was used to compare the number of teeth among the two groups and to test significance at P < 0.05. Intraobserver agreement was assessed using alpha (Cronbach) reliability analysis. A descriptive analysis using percentages was performed to characterize tooth agenesis. RESULTS: A significant difference was found in the number of teeth in the premaxilla among Group R and Group P. Maxillary lateral incisor showed the highest percentage of agenesis in the two groups followed by the maxillary second premolar. CONCLUSIONS: The number of teeth might be useful in differentiating different subtypes of nonsyndromic BCLP.