Influence of Presurgical Orthodontic Molding on the Growth of Newborns With Unilateral Cleft Lip Palate

Orofacial clefts are the second most common birth deformity and vary in etiology and phenotype, e.g. isolated cleft palate, cleft lip or cleft lip palate. Especially newborns with unilateral complete cleft lip and palate (UCLP) present severe facial asymmetries auch as a broad and flat ala of the nose, a deviation of the columella and the philtrum to the non cleft side. Since postnatal asymmetries can even remain after surgical lip closure in a alleviated shape, therapeutic presurgical orthodontic approaches to improve symmetrie of the nose and to achieve ideal conditions for lip surgery are essential.

Presurgical orthodontic treatment for newborns with UCLP start within the first days after birth to separate oral and nasal cavitiy, to improve breathing and feeding and to regulate growth of the maxillary segments using passive appliances (passive Alveolar Molding (pAM)). An advanced and widely spread concept is the Nasoalveolar Molding (NAM) by Grayson, which was first introduced in 1993 as a palate plate combined with a nasal stent as a non-invasive presurgical appliance to stimulate growth of the nose and use the postnatal potential to modulate the nasal cartilage. The aim of the NAM therapy is to reduce nasal width, to reduce deviation of the columella to the non cleft side and to increase nostril height. However, due to inhomogeneous study designs and results, so far only a slightly positive effect using NAM therapy could be detected and prospective, randomized clinical trials are necessary.

The aim of the study is to analyse and to compare the effects of pAM versus NAM treatment in newborns with UCLP in the first year of life. The following parameters will be analysed on defined study time points: nostril width, nasal morphology, cleft width, maxillary growth, statical and dynamical facial asymmetries and facial perception.