Three-dimensional assessment of alveolar bone thickness in individuals with nonsyndromic unilateral complete cleft lip and palate

Abstract

Background: Patients with cleft lip and palate (CLP) present with thin alveolar bone around the defect. Thin alveolar bone compromises orthodontic treatment. The aim of this study was to carry out three-dimensional (3D) assessment of the thickness of alveolar bone around the teeth adjacent to cleft and to compare the thickness of alveolar bone between cleft and noncleft side. Materials and Methods: Retrospective database of 16 cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans of individuals with nonsyndromic unilateral complete CLP reported to two cleft centers in the year 2015 and 2016. Alveolar bone thickness of the teeth anterior and posterior to the cleft side in the buccal, lingual, mesial, and distal at three levels (3 mm, 6 mm, and 1 mm below the apex) from the cementoenamel junction (CEJ) using Dolphin 3D imaging software were measured. CBCT images of each cleft patient are divided into two groups, cleft and noncleft site. Each cleft side is subdivided into 1. Tooth anterior to the cleft 2. Tooth posterior to the cleft. Alveolar bone thickness of teeth at labial/buccal, palatal, and mesial/distal surfaces was measured. These subdivided groups were compared to contralateral teeth on the noncleft sites for individual surface. Statistical Analysis Used: Wilcoxon signed-ranks test and descriptive statistics were used. Results: The average alveolar bone thickness on the labial surface for teeth anterior to the cleft at 3 mm from CEJ is 0.15 (0, 0.80) mm and noncleft site is 0.85 (0.58, 1.28) mm (P