Objective: To observe the effective of presurgical nasoalveolar molding (PNAM) therapy in the treatment of complete cleft lip and palate infant.
Methods: PNAM was performed as presurgical orthodontic treatment in 45 infants (aged 18.33 d) with nonsyndromic complete cleft lip and palate. The columella deviation, columella length, nostril width, nostril height and width of alveolar cleft were measured before and after treatment. The data were analyzed by SPSS 10.0.
Results: After PNAM treatment, the columella deviation, columella length, nostril width and width of alveolar cleft obviously decreased, while the nostril height increased. Except for smaller cleft nostril width of bilateral complete cleft lip and palate infant, other measurement items had statistics difference (P<0.05).
Conclusion: PNAM can improve nasal profile of complete cleft lip and palate infant and decrease the width of alveolar cleft, and make it easy for the operation of cleft lip and palate.