Forging a New Path in Cleft Rehabilitation by Tissue Engineering – A Review

Abstract

Of all the birth defects, Cleft palate is among the most common and affects about one in 1,500 births resulting in medical, physical, developmental, social and emotional problems in affected children in addition to the high health care costs. Current treatment is based on surgical closure of the cleft followed by orthodontic dental care, speech therapy, bone grafting, and requires multiple surgeries spanning over 18 years. Thus, there is a pressing need to develop more effective methods of treatment to provide young patients with a safer option that will result in a complete closure of the palatal cleft shortly after birth. In this review, the application of the field of tissue engineering, involving the use of adult stem cells, such as mesenchymal stem cells from bone marrow and Adipose-derived Stem Cells (ASCs) seeded on currently available biomaterials is presented in the context of healing craniofacial defects like the cleft palate. This article presents the concise technique to generate new bone in cleft deformities, using stem cells. It also throws light on the work done by various researchers to regenerate bone in large defects.