Oral Impacts on Quality of Life in Adolescent Cleft Patient

Background: Maintaining an optimal oral health in cleft patients may be difficult due to the altered anatomy of the cleft area. No data is currently available on the prevalence of oral conditions and oral health-related quality of life among early-adolescents with cleft lip and/or palate in Thailand. Objectives: The aims of this study were to determine the levels of dental caries, periodontal disease and oral health related quality of life in subjects with cleft lip and/or cleft palate as compared with non-cleft control subjects. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among early adolescents aged 10-14 years. Subjects included 68 oral cleft patients attending the Center for Cleft Lip – Palate and Craniofacial Anomalies at Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand. One-hundred-and eighteen controls were randomly selected from two schools in surrounding areas. The Child-Oral Impact on Daily Performance (C-OIDP) index was administered prior to an oral examination. Results: The decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) index in the permanent teeth, plaque index (PI), and gingival index (GI) scores were significantly higher in the children with cleft than in the controls. The C-OIDP mean impact score between both groups were not significantly different, but the cleft children with impacts had a higher mean impact score (11.87) than that of the controls (8.63). The intensity of impact at moderate to very severe level in most (81.0%) of the cleft children was higher than in controls (56.9%). The impact score in the cleft children was high for speaking (4.50) and emotion control (4.25). The main causes of those impacts included having oro-nasal fistula, sensitive tooth, malposed tooth and deformity of mouth or face. Conclusion: The cleft children had higher level of dental caries and poorer oral hygiene than the controls. They also had higher intensity of impact and impact score than the controls.