Dental anomalies in children with cleft lip and palate in Western Australia.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this paper was to describe the prevalence and type of dental anomalies in the primary and permanent dentition in children with a cleft condition at Princess Margaret Hospital in Perth, Western Australia. MATERIALS AND METHODS The details of 162 current dental patients extracted from the main dental database through their year of birth for the period 1998-2001 were selected consecutively. Dental records and X-rays were examined by one examiner (WN) and verified by a second examiner (RB) to determine dental development. The mean age of the subjects was 10.8 years with equal numbers of males and females. Subjects were further divided into cleft type; unilateral cleft lip (UCL) and palate, bilateral cleft lip (BCL) and palate, UCL, BCL, and cleft palate. RESULTS One hundred sixty-two subjects were grouped into 21 categories of anomaly or abnormality. Prevalence rates for the categories were calculated for the overall group and for gender and cleft type. CONCLUSION Overall, 94% of patients were found to have at least one dental anomaly, with fifty-six (34%) patients having more than one anomaly or abnormality.