Presurgical Orthopedics in Cleft Lip and Palate Care

Cleft lip and palate is one of the most common birth defects occurring 1 of every 700 live births. Historically, cleft lip and palate care typically involves the use of presurgical infant orthopedics appliances (PIOA) fabricated by a pediatric dentist as an adjunct to the overall management of the defect approximate the cleft segments prior to surgical repair. However, the necessity of presurgical orthopedics in managing the resulting orofacial deformity is still one that elicits discussion by craniofacial teams due to the variety of methodologies available and the inconsistency in long-term results produced by these devices. Nonetheless, presurgical orthopedics used for patients with cleft lip and palate remains primarily focused on four types’ devices which have produced varied results; however, there are other techniques which offer promising results. In spite of contradictory findings, presurgical orthopedics is believed to be a vital influence on growth in cleft life and palate deformities.