State of the art in oral and maxillofacial surgery: treatment of maxillary hypoplasia and anterior palatal and alveolar clefts.

Abstract

As the new millennium approaches, it seems appropriate to look back at where we have been and where we are going with the care of patients with facial deformities. None of us can deny that although changes have been made, many current treatment modalities are no more than modifications of old techniques. We are, however, poised to make dramatic improvements in the management of facial abnormalities as we enter the new century and millennium. Biotechnology, genetic manipulation, and new surgical technology will become pervasive, and perhaps we will move from "modification" of the old into a completely new era of therapeutic approaches to the care of dentofacial deformities. "Opportunities multiply as they are seized" (from Sun Tzu), and the time of opportunity is approaching. This review will attempt to look at the state of the art in cleft care and in oral and maxillofacial surgery: where we have been and where we are going. It will be clear that there is overlap between specialties and that these overlaps will become greater as new regimens in the care of facial deformities come to the forefront.