The types of the maxillary arch forms in unilateral cleft lip and palate patients might play a stronger role in the stability of the maxillary dental arch widths after orthodontic treatment in patients with collapse of both segments and a severe degree of maxillary narrowness.

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Many patients underwent "surgery-first" midface advancement, and visiting the orthodontic clinic at least before advancement was considered desirable. First-phase orthodontic treatment should be performed considering the burden of care. Midface advancement below the age of 6 years had a high risk of injury to the maxillary molars. This survey is considered useful for improving orthodontic treatment in team care of patients with SCS.

The postnatal expression of immunoreactivity for calretinin, one of the calcium binding proteins, and for protein gene product 9.5 (PGP 9.5), a general neuronal marker, was investigated in mechanoreceptive Ruffini endings in the periodontal ligament of the rat incisor. Age-related changes in the expression of these two proteins in periodontal nerves were further quantified with a computerized image analysis. At 1 day after birth, a few PGP 9.5-immunoreactive nerve fibers and a still smaller number of calretinin-positive fibers were found in the periodontal ligament: they were thin and beaded in appearance and no specialized nerve terminals were recognized. Tree-like terminals, reminiscent of immature Ruffini endings, were recognizable in 4-day-old rats by PGP 9.5-immunohistochemistry, while calretinin-immunostaining failed to reveal these specialized endings. At postnatal 7-11 days when PGP 9.5-immunostaining could demonstrate typical Ruffini endings, calretinin-immunopositive nerve fibers merely tapered off without forming the Ruffini type endings. A small number of Ruffini endings showing calretinin-immunoreactivity began to occur in the periodontal ligament at 24-26 days after birth when the occlusion of the first molars had been established. At the functional occlusion stage (60-80 days after birth), the Ruffini endings showing calretinin-immunoreactivity drastically increased in number and density, but less so than those positive for PGP 9.5-immunoreaction. The delayed expression of calretinin suggests that the function of the periodontal Ruffini endings is established after the completion of terminal formation because Ca2+, which binds to calcium binding proteins including calretinin with high affinity, plays an important role in mechano-electric transduction.

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