• Alexandra I Holst, Stefan Holst, Emeka Nkenke, Matthias Fenner, and Ursula Hirschfelder.
• University Clinic Erlangen, Dental Clinic, Department of Orthodontics, Germany. alexandra.holst@uk-erlangen.de
• Cleft Palate Craniofac. J. 2009 Sep 1; 46 (5): 512-20.

ObjectiveTo investigate whether the craniofacial vertical and sagittal jaw relationship in patients with cleft lip and palate (CLP) differed from that of age-matched noncleft controls, before and after the pubertal growth spurt.DesignRetrospective observational study.PatientsThe study group comprised 126 patients with CLP, subdivided according to gender and cleft type, and the control group comprised 53 age-matched skeletal class I patients.MethodsAngular and linear measurements were taken from prepubertal and postpubertal lateral cephalograms of all patients.ResultsIn patients with cleft lip and palate, the maxillary retrognathism became more remarkable with increasing age; whereas, the retrognathic position of the mandible became less pronounced as compared with controls. Reduced posterior midfacial height, a common prepubertal finding in patients with cleft lip and palate, was significant in postpubertal girls and young women with unilateral cleft lip and palate (p = .002). The total anterior facial height in male patients with bilateral cleft lip and palate was larger than in control patients (p = .002) after the pubertal growth spurt due to an increased anterior midfacial height. In male patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate, this finding was due to an increased anterior lower facial height (p < .001).ConclusionsPatients with cleft lip and palate treated according to a standardized treatment concept had adequate craniofacial jaw relationships after puberty. Despite a measured skeletal class I in both male and female patients with cleft lip and palate regardless of cleft type, there was a slight tendency toward a skeletal class III. Findings were similar for all groups of cleft lip and palate patients irrespective of the type of orthodontic treatment performed.

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