Presurgical nasoalveolar molding therapy in cleft lip palate infant: A successful case report

Abstract

Nasoalveolar molding (NAM) is a recent infant orthopedic appliance constructed in cleft lip and palate patients below 3–4 months of age because the moldability of primary cartilage is very high due to high estrogen content in infants below 4 months of age. We started NAM therapy in this case at 3 weeks of age and continued till 4 months of age, the cleft lip gap decreased from 19 mm to 9 mm and palate (alveolar) gap reduced from 9 mm to 3 mm, there was also improvement in nasal anatomy. This is an important case report in which we have successfully completed NAM therapy and also followed the case after lip surgery for 6 months which resulted in better surgical outcome in terms of function and esthetics. In conclusion, we suggest that presurgical NAM improves esthetics, decreases cleft deformities, and prepares the patients for less surgical procedures with better results.