Objective: To compare dental arch relationship outcomes following 3 different 2-stage palatal repair protocols.
Design: Retrospective, cross sectional.
Setting: Three cleft palate centers (A, B, C) in Japan.
Patients: Ninety (A: 39, B: 26, C: 25) consecutively treated Japanese patients with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate.
Interventions: In A, the soft palate and the posterior half of the hard palate were repaired at a mean age of 1 year 7 months. In B, the soft palate and hard palate were closed separately at a mean age of 1 year 6 months and 5 years 8 months, respectively. In C, the soft palate and hard palate were closed at a mean age of 1 year and 1 year 5 months, respectively.
Main outcome measures: Dental arch relationships were assessed using the 5-Year-Olds' (5-Y) index by 5 raters and the Huddart/Bodenham (HB) index by 2 raters.
Results: Intra- and inter-rater reliabilities showed substantial or almost perfect agreement for the 5-Y and HB ratings. No significant differences in mean values and distributions of 5-Y scores were found among the 3 centers. The mean HB index scores of molars on the minor segment were significantly smaller in C than those in A and B (P < .05).
Conclusions: There were no significant differences in dental arch relationships at 5 years among the times and techniques of hard palate closure. However, further analysis of the possible influence of infant cleft size as a covariable on a larger sample size is needed.
Keywords: 2-stage palatoplasty; 5-Year-Olds’ index; Huddart/Bodenham index; Japanese infants; dental arch relationships; unilateral cleft lip and palate.