The Slavcleft: A three-center study of the outcome of treatment of cleft lip and palate. Part 2: Dental arch relationships

Abstract

Purpose: Our aim was to evaluate the dental arch relationship in a preadolescent Slavic population with unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) by using the Goslon Yardstick.

Materials and methods: Patients treated in Warsaw, Poland (n = 32), Prague, Czech Republic (n = 33) and Bratislava, Slovakia (n = 30) were included in this retrospective study. Each cleft center used a unique surgical protocol. Three raters scored blindly the dental arch relationship on plaster models. Intra- and inter-rater agreement were assessed with kappa statistics, and differences between the groups were evaluated with one-way analysis of variance. Intra-rater agreement was very good (k > 0.825), while inter-rater agreement was either good or very good (kappa >0.703).

Results: We found that patients treated in Warsaw showed a more favorable dental arch relationship (Goslon score = 2.58, SD = 0.77) than patients treated in Prague (Goslon score = 3.21, SD = 1.04). Patients treated in Bratislava showed an intermediate Goslon score (3.07; SD = 0.99).

Conclusion: This study showed that the dental arch relationships in patients treated in Warsaw with a one-stage repair were more favorable than in patients treated in Prague and Bratislava with a two-stage protocol and comparable to the best results obtained in the Eurocleft and Americleft studies.

Keywords: Cleft lip and palate; Cleft palate; Dental arch relationship; Goslon; Slavs.