Perceived and Normative Needs of Facial Cleft Patients Seen in Nigeria

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the pattern of presentation and assessing treatment needs of children with facial clefts. Material and Methods: This was a cross sectional study of 49 patients seen at the cleft clinic of Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex, Ile-Ife for a 39-month period of study. Data collected were patient's bio-data including age, date of birth, sex, social class, age of parents, dental findings, associated malformations, treatment given and referral using an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Frequency distributions were carried out for all variables and the Pearson Chi-Square Test was applied to assess the significance of differences between groups at a p value of 0.05. Results: Cleft lip and palate had the highest preponderance 23 (47.0%) followed by cleft lip 14 (28.6%) and cleft palate 12 (24.5%). There were more females 28 (57.14%) than males 21 (42.9%) at male to female ratio of 3: 4, though; it was not statistically significant (p-0.73). Most of the patients (73.5%) belong to the low social class. The high social class had 13 (26.5%) cases. Conclusion: The most important treatment needs of cleft patients in this study were: review/follow-up of treatment protocol, oral hygiene instructions, cleft palate repair, cleft lip repair, and referral to the Orthodontist for treatment of varying degrees of malocclusion in descending order. This trend in the treatment needs arose because most of the patients were still ignorant of the implications of managing facial cleft defects through the multi-disciplinary treatment approach.

Prevalence of cleft lip and palate in Brazilian children 2011 - 2015

“…In this study, higher prevalence of cleft lip and palate was observed in male children, a result similar to that reported by other authors 6,9,13-15 . Some authors report that the palate merges later in female children, contributing to increase the occurrence of this condition in this population group 16,17 . Research with Taiwanese children demonstrated a higher prevalence of cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL/P) among boys and cleft palate (CP) among girls 18 .…”

“…This homogeneity and absence of large increases over time may suggest that environmental factors have little influence on the occurrence of these changes. The presence of this condition may negatively influence the quality of life of individuals, causing important psychological and functional disorders 25 , in addition to unfavorably influencing the oral health quality of patients affected 7,15,17,26 , vocal resonance 27 , aesthetics 22 , among other factors.…”

An ecological study on orofacial clefts in northeastern Brazil

“…To treat these patients, a multidisciplinary approach is necessary, with follow-up of physicians, dentists, nutritionists, psychologists, speech therapists, among other professionals (14). The most important dental treatment needs of these patients are: surgical correction of clefts, post-surgical follow-up, oral hygiene instructions and malocclusion treatment (15).…”