Background: This retrospective study describes the prevalence of dental caries and tooth number anomaly in primary and permanent dentition in children with a cleft lip and palate (CLP).
Methods: In 47 children with CLP (24 boys, 23 girls; age 4-14 years) panoramic x-rays were investigated, 28 with primary and 23 with permanent dentition. Caries index dmft/DMFT was applied. Gender, type of the cleft (LAHSAL classification), and number of teeth in both dentitions were recorded. The statistics were performed using the chi-squared test, significance level p=0.05.
Result: There was tooth agenesis in 34 % (n=16) children. The most commonly missing tooth was maxillary lateral incisor. The prevalence of supernumerary teeth was 45 % (n=21), praecaninus being the most common (n=20). There was a relationship in supernumerary teeth prevalence between cleft of primary and secondary palate (p=0.01). The prevalence of caries in children with primary dentition was 79 % (n = 22), in permanent dentition 56.5 % (n=13). No association between caries prevalence and gender was found. The average dmft was 4.64 (boys 4.0; girls 5.5); the average DMFT was 1.61 (boys 0.9; girls 2.31). There was no significant difference in DMFT in children with cleft of the primary and secondary palate.
Conclusion: The prevalence of caries in children with CLP was higher in primary dentition and lower in permanent dentition than previously reported in a Czech population. There was no significant association between caries prevalence and gender. There were significantly more supernumerary teeth in children with cleft of the primary palate.