Three-dimensional evaluation of the dental arch in cleft lip and palate after prosthetic treatment

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the stability of the surface of the maxillary teeth and mucosa in cleft lip and palate (CLP) patients with a maxilla defect or tissue deficiency according to the duration of observation and cleft type. Methods: Pairs of maxillary casts taken from 18 patients at different time points after prosthodontic treatment were investigated in this study. All 36 casts were scanned with an intraoral scanner, and the acquired images were saved in standard tesselation language (STL) files. The two STL files for each patient were then superimposed using three-dimensional (3D) evaluation software, with 3D deviations shown as a color map. Areas with a 3D deviation within ±0.100 mm were defined as stable. The influence of cleft type and duration of observation on the ratio of stable areas to the entire maxillary surface comprising the teeth and mucosa was investigated using multiple regression analysis. Statistical significance was set at p <0.05. Results: Multiple regression analysis showed that the duration of observation was significantly associated with the stable area ratio (B =-23.463, P