Timing of dental development in Saudi cleft lip and palate patients.

OBJECTIVE To assess the timing of dental development in Saudi patients affected with non-syndromic cleft lip and palate (CLP), and further investigate patients' demographics. METHODS The panoramic radiographs of 51 Saudi subjects (5-14 years) with CLP were assessed cross-sectionally in January 2012. The data were collected at King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and the study was completed in February 2013. Demirjian's method was used to evaluate the crown and root developmental stages of mandibular permanent teeth to quantify the dental age. Patients' medical records were used to specify the chronological age, and utilized to divide all participating subjects into 3 groups. All data were collected by one investigator, and the intra-class correlation coefficient test showed a good reliability (0.984). The mean dental and chronological ages were then compared using paired t-test. RESULTS Dental age was found to be delayed when compared with chronological age by 8.4 months (p=0.002) for the studied sample. Both gender groups expressed such delay (p=0.022 [male], p=0.020 [female]). The age subgroup 8-11 years displayed a significantly (p=0.002) delayed dental development when compared with younger and older age groups. The present findings are consistent with previous reports in the literature. CONCLUSION Compared with their chronological age, Saudi patients with CLP have delayed dental development as defined by dental age using Demirjian's method.