Prosthetic rehabilitation of an edentulous cleft palate using a denture with a palatal obturator: a clinical report

A cleft palate is a genetic disorder that occurs when an oro-nasal communication is present between the palate and the base of the nose. During pregnancy, the maxillary is not completely merged, and the defect is only seen at birth. Possible causes are hormonal imbalances, nutritional deficiencies, infections, radiation during pregnancy, alcohol or cigarette consumption, the ingestion of other teratogenic substances by the mother, and heredity. The resulting defect requires corrective surgery. In the case of a cleft palate, surgery is postponed until after the first year of life to avoid disturbing the normal development of speech and the risk of aspiration of food, which causes infections such as otitis and pneumonia. Ear infections can harm the development of speech in cases where surgery is not possible or the defect has reappeared. This article describes the prosthetic rehabilitation of a edentulous patient: a woman of 53 years old with a cleft palate who was treated surgically. In a clinical examination, a residual palatal defect was identified. The prosthetic rehabilitation involved the emplacement of a complete adapted prosthesis, using a palatal obturator, with a view to sealing the defect and allowing the patient to acquire better speech quality, and improve her nutrition and well-being.