Evaluation of dental developmental stage of maxillary canines in patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate: A Cross-Sectional Study

Introduction: The maxillary permanent canine in patients with cleft lip and palate presents distinctive challenges. The presence of a cleft may lead to impaction, ectopic eruption, or delayed development of teeth adjacent to the cleft area.Aim of the study: To evaluate the dental developmental stage of the erupting maxillary canines in a group of patients with unilateral complete cleft lip and palate in comparison to a control group without any congenital anomalies. Materials and Methods: A total of eighty-six panoramic radiographs were collected from the orthodontic department from patients with and without unilateral complete cleft lip and palate with an age range of 8-12 years from the Egyptian population. Nolla method was used to assess the dental developmental stage of the erupting maxillary canine in both groups. Results: The maxillary canine dental developmental stages did not differ significantly (p = 0.11) between the patients with and without unilateral complete cleft lip and palate. In the cleft group, most teeth were in Stage 7 (45.3%) and Stage 8 (41.9%). In the control group, the majority were in Stage 8 (50.0%) and Stage 7 (37.2%). When evaluating the difference between the cleft side and the non-cleft side in patients with UCLP, no significant difference was observed (p = 0.56) as well.Conclusion: The presence of cleft lip and palate anomaly does not seem to affect the maxillary canine dental development. Future longitudinal studies are required to investigate other factors that might lead to canine impaction/delayed eruption in patients with cleft lip/palate.