Comparison of dental caries prevalence in patients with cleft lip and/or palate and their sibling controls.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the prevalence of dental caries in patients with cleft lip and/or palate and their cleft-free sibling controls.


METHODS
The two subject groups (patient and control) comprised 106 participants. The former group consisted of 53 patients with cleft lip and/or palate,aged 12 to 29 years, who visited the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Hospital at Damascus University of Syria. The control group consisted of the patients' siblings who had no clefts,and they were sex matched to the patient group. Dental caries were examined clinically and were reported using the decayed,missing, and filled permanent teeth (DMFT) index. The DMFT scores were compared between the two groups.


RESULTS
The author found an overall association of dental caries with the presence of cleft lip and/or palate (odds ratio = 2.52; 95% confidence interval =1.389-4.574; p , .05). The DMFT index scores were proportionally higher inpatients with cleft lip and/or palate compared with the control group (p , .001).


CONCLUSIONS
Subjects with cleft lip and palate are susceptible to dental caries independently of socioeconomic status.
Al-Dajani
Mahmoud
M
College of Dentistry, International University for Science and Technology, Dara, Syria. mahmouddajani@yahoo.com
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002971:Cleft Lip / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics; D002972:Cleft Palate / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics; D004245:DMF Index; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics; D003733:Dental Caries Susceptibility; D003793:Dental Restoration, Permanent / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D013593:Syria / Q000453:epidemiology; D016388:Tooth Loss / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult