Dental Anomalies Associated with Orofacial Cleft among a Group of Individuals in Northwestern Nigeria.

BACKGROUND Orofacial clefts are the most common orofacial congenital malformations and dental anomalies are more prevalent in such individuals. OBJECTIVES To assess the frequency and distribution of orofacial clefts and associated dental anomalies in a group of patients with orofacial clefts. MATERIALS AND METHODS A retrospective study involving the assessment of dental records of orofacial cleft patients who had their surgical repair at a health institution between March, 2013 and December, 2019. Their socio demographic characteristics, type of cleft, type of dental anomaly observed, teeth affected and number of teeth affected were reviewed. The records were analysed using IBM SPSS, version 21 and Chi square test to compare differences between groups while the level of significance was set at P < 0.05. RESULTS A total number of 62 records were studied. More than half were males 36(58.1%) with a mean age of 16 (+ 15.6) years. The most frequent type of cleft was unilateral cleft lip (64.5%), majority had their cleft (65.3%) and dental anomalies (80.7%) on the left side of the face (p=0.001). The most frequently recorded dental anomaly was hypodontia/missing teeth (62.9%) and there was a significant relationship between tooth rotations and cleft lip. CONCLUSION Unilateral left cleft lip was the most prevalent. Hypodontia/missing teeth was the most common dental anomaly among the study group. Tooth rotations were seen more in patients with cleft of the lip (CL). Individuals with orofacial cleft requires holistic health care so as to improve their quality of life.