Volume 25, Issue 112, June 2021

The size of palatal cleft and surgical outcome in palatal cleft patients treated with and without feeding plate

Mansoureh Mohammadi¹, Amin Alavi^2♦, Afagh Hovakhti³

¹Assistant Professor, Oral Health Research Center, Institute of Health, Babol University of Medical Science, Babol, Iran
²Assistant Professor, Department of Oral and maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran
³Assistant Professor, Department of Prosthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran

^♦Corresponding author
Assistant Professor, Department of Oral and maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran

ABSTRACT

Background and aim: Cleft lip and cleft palate are among the most common congenital anomalies in the head and facial area. With a goal of detaching the oral cavity from the nose and helping baby's feeding, a palate appliance named the feeding plate was provided for patients. Study was conducted to investigate the effect of the feeding plate on the cleft features and the resulting surgical outcomes. Materials and Methods: 14 neonates with cleft palate were entered into the present study. They were distributed into case and control groups (n = 7). For the case group, the feeding plate was provided during the first week after the birth, and they were visited at least three times before surgery. The control group included patients who did not receive a feeding plate who were prepared for surgery. Surgery outcomes (end-flap necrosis, hematoma, and fistula) were evaluated one week and one month after the surgery. Data were analyzed by SPSS-20 using a paired t-test. Findings: The width of alveolar ridge in the anterior, medial and posterior regions increased in the case group after using the feeding plate (during surgery), the increase was significant in the anterior and posterior regions (p = 0.001 and p = 0.006, respectively). The width of the cleft palate in the case group decreased after using the feeding plate in all three areas, the decreases was statistically significant in the anterior region (p = 0.045). Examining the width of the cleft palate during surgery between the two case and control groups, it was concluded that in each of the anterior, medial and posterior regions, the width of the cleft palate was lower in the control group, the difference was not significant though. Examining the ratio of the width of the cleft palate to that of the alveolar ridge between the case and control groups during the production of the feeding plate and during the surgery in the anterior, medial and posterior regions showed that the ratio of the cleft palate width to the alveolar ridge width decreased during surgery in all three regions. This reduction was significant in the anterior and posterior regions (0.0012 and p = 0.006 respectively). Conclusion: The results of the present study showed that utilizing feeding plate was effective in reducing the size of the cleft palate and decreasing ratio of cleft palate width to that of the alveolar ridge in the case group. Using feeding plate did not affect the surgery outcome.

Keywords: Feeding plate, cleft palate, end flap necrosis, hematoma, fistula

Medical Science, 2021, 25(112), 1381-1390

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