Evaluation of the dental arch in children with cleft lip and palate by means 3D digital models

Abstract

The purpose of this present study is a longitudinal evaluation of dimensional alteration of dental arches by means of 3D digital models in patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate after primary surgery. The sample will be composed of 100 digital models of 50 patients with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate. The models will be scanned through a 3D Scanner. Dental arches measurements (3Shape's R700TM Scanner, Copenhagen K Denmark) will be performed directly on the scanned images by means of a specific software, (3D Software OrthoAnalyzerTM, Copenhagen K Denmark) for the correlation within the studied periods: anterior cleft region, antero-posterior extent of the dental arches, intercanines distance and tuberosities distance. After collection, the data will be analyzed by means of graphs and tables, and Student's t-test will be used to determine the significance of differences between groups within the same assay. The assessment will be carried out by 2 evaluators (kappa> 0.8). If necessary, other tests may be applied. The significance level of 5% will be adopted for the differences considered statistically significant. (AU)