Introduction: Preventive dental care for early childhood caries in children with special needs such as cleft lip and palate (CLP) is more important than in children without this condition.
Case reports: Prevention at various levels is required in present cases of CLP patients in primary and mixed dentition periods. A four-year-old CLP patient had early childhood caries (ECC) as smooth surface carious lesions in 51 and 61. The preventive needs for this child included counselling and professional preventive procedures to prevent caries in primary molars among others. CLP cases II and III were in the mixed dentition period. Preventive resin restorations were planned for permanent molars, while prevention procedures at secondary and tertiary levels check disease progression in permanent teeth.
Conclusion: The level of prevention in cleft lip and palate children is age specific and depends upon the oral and systemic status of the patient.