Mandibular dimensions and facial height of cleft lip and palate subjects

The aim of this study was to measure the mandibular dimensions and the anterior facial height of cleft lip and palate patients, and to compare them with a non-cleft control group. A total of 93 patients (57 males and 36 females) with clefts aged 11-27 years, were evaluated through cephalometric radiographs. The types of cleft included unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP), bilateral cleft lip and palate (BCLP), and cleft lip only (CL). A group of 28 normal subjects (18 males and 10 females) were used as a control group. All groups were matched according to gender and age. Results reveal that there were no significant differences between the cleft groups except in the mandibular plane angle (SN-Mand), where BCLP subjects displayed higher angles than CL only. A significantly larger mandibular plane angle was observed when comparing subjects with BCLP and UCLP and the controls (P<0.01). No significant difference was found between the SNB of the cleft groups or the controls. The cleft subjects displayed smaller mandibular and ramal length (CO-GN and CO-GO), and shorter upper anterior facial height (N-A) compared with the controls. Male cleft subjects showed larger dimensions than female cleft subjects in all linear dimensions, but were still considered smaller than the control group. We can conclude that cleft subjects display certain characteristics such as high mandibular plane angles and smaller mandibular dimensions, more so than subjects without clefts.