title: Nasoalveolar molding with active columellar lengthening in severe bilateral cleft lip/palate: a clinical report.
abstract: Severe bilateral cleft-lip/palate patients are difficult to manage even if nasoalveolar molding therapy is advocated before surgical repair. A 5-day-old male infant with bilateral cleft-lip-palate was managed with the nasoalveolar molding technique. Periodic adjustments of the appliance were continued every week to mold the nasoalveolar complex into the desired shape for the 5 months of infancy. The cleft width of 12 mm on the right and 14 mm on the left side was completely reduced, and the absent columella was lengthened to 6 mm with the active molding appliance. The horizontal bar of the nasal stent of the appliance was modified by adding an additional 1 mm layer of resilient liner on the tissue surface to achieve rapid columellar lengthening. In severe bilateral cleft-lip/palate cases, simple modifications in the appliance can achieve rapid results.
authors.affiliation: Department of Prosthodontics, Government Dental College and Hospital, Nagpur, India. pravinandsmita@yahoo.co.in
authors.forename: Pravinkumar G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Patil
authors.forename: Smita P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Patil
authors.forename: Soumil
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sarin
mesh_terms: D000539:Alveolar Process / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000254:growth & development; D002971:Cleft Lip / Q000601:surgery*; D002972:Cleft Palate / Q000601:surgery*; D004867:Equipment Design; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009666:Nose / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000254:growth & development; D019637:Orthopedic Procedures / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures / Q000379:methods; D015607:Stents; D013499:Surface Properties; D015626:Tissue Expansion / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods