Association between speech and dental occlusion changes in children with cleft lip and palate and time of primary plastic surgeries

ABSTRACT Purpose: to describe the changes in speech and dental occlusion in children with cleft lip and palate and verify their association with each other and with the time of primary plastic surgeries. Methods: a cross-sectional study with collected data on the subjects’ identification, age at the time of primary surgeries, and clinical assessment of speech and dental occlusion. The chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, and t-test were used to verify the associations between the variables at the 5% significance level (p < 0.05). Results: the sample comprised 11 children aged 6 to 10 years, most of whom were males, self-reported white, with trans-incisive foramen cleft, predominantly on the left side. The mean age at lip repair surgery was 6 months, and 13 months at palatoplasty. Among the main dental occlusion changes, posterior and anterior crossbite stood out. All the subjects presented changed speech, with a prevalence of cases with dentoalveolar and palatine deformities, followed by passive and active changes. Subjects with anterior crossbite tended to have undergone primary lip repair surgery at a mean of four months earlier than the subjects without anterior crossbite. Conclusions: the associations between speech and dental occlusion changes, and between these and the time of primary plastic surgeries were not statistically significant. Even though it is known that early lip repair surgery is ideal to favor oral functions and aesthetics, the results revealed a tendency towards anterior crossbite, in these subjects.