Date: October 2017.
Source: UCSF School of Dentistry Research and Clinical Excellence Day 2017 Program. UCSF students and research trainees present their work through posters and oral presentations to the School of Dentistry community and includes more than 60 presentations and draws more than 400 attendees.
Objective: Cleft lip and palate (CLP) is the most common birth defect in the United States and is known to be associated with many airway problems. There are limited studies in the literature evaluating the effect of maxillary expansion and/or protraction on oropharyngeal airway in children with non-syndromic cleft lip and palate. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare oropharyngeal airway volume and minimal cross-sectional area (MCA) in individuals with non-syndromic CP/L using CBCT before and after Phase I orthodontic maxillary expansion with or without protraction.
Methods: A retrospective study of CBCT data of preadolescent individuals (ages, 8.7 + 2.6 years) with cleft palate with or without cleft lip (n=18) who underwent Phase I orthodontic maxillary expansion with or without protraction at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) was conducted. A control group of 9 preadolescent individuals (ages, 8.7 + 2.6 years) with cleft palate with or without cleft lip was used for comparison. Measurements were conducted by 3DMDvultus software with cross-sectional areas calculated for each 2-mm entire length of the airway. The oropharyngeal area was defined inferiorly from vallecula and superiorly by the palatal plane.
Results: The measurement method proved reliable as the intraclass correlation coefficients between the double measurements were all over 0.9 in 5 sample groups. There was a statistically significant increase in pharyngeal airway volume after phase I orthodontic treatment, however, there was no statistically significant change in minimal cross-sectional area.
Conclusions: The findings indicate that maxillary expansion may increase oropharyngeal volume and but may not reduce airway problems as the minimal cross sectional area is not reduced.
Article: #15 Title: Three-dimensional analysis of the effect of expansion and/or protraction on oropharyngeal
volume and MCA in nonsyndromic CLP/CLCP children
Authors: J GAO, N ALREJAYE, S OBEROI. UCSF School of Dentistry, Cleft and Craniofacial Orthodontic Program.
Support: UCSF Program in Craniofacial Biology