Orofacial myofunctional evaluation in cleft lip and palate: an integrative literature review

ABSTRACT Purpose: to identify the focus of scientific publications in the field of orofacial motricity in individuals with cleft lip and palate, as well as validated protocols used in speech and language evaluation. Methods: a study conducted using the following databases: Medline, SciELO, Lilacs and Google Scholar, through keywords including: cleft palate + cleft lip + evaluation + speech therapy + stomatognathic system + speech + phonation + chewing + swallowing + breathing + validation studies, in Portuguese and English. Results: a total of 572 articles that addressed the evaluation of the stomatognathic system was selected. The articles were published between 2012 and 2017, and examined for year of publication, subject area, focus, instrument used for evaluation, and type of study. Of these, 90 articles met the inclusion criteria, but only 5 used validated protocols. The greatest number of articles was published in 2014. The studies covered broad age groups, using subjective and objective methods, and instruments were often non-standardized. Conclusion: speech was the prevalent theme, while other orofacial functions were poorly investigated, demonstrating that studies with other approaches were lacking.