A Comparison of Transverse Palatal Width in Adult Untreated Cleft Palate Patients with Normal Adult Palates: A Pilot Study

Objective: The purpose of this pilot study is to compare the transverse palatal widths in untreated adult cleft palate patients with normal adult patients. Methods and Materials: The study was conducted in Bangladesh recruiting 10 patients with adult sized untreated cleft palate and 15 patients with normal adult sized palates. The control group was comprised of 7 males and 8 females with a mean age of 30.5 ± 4.4 years. The affected group comprised of 7 males and 3 females with a mean age 17 ± 3.3 years. Alginate impressions of the maxillary arch were taken and poured into plaster dental casts. The inter-canine, inter-premolar and intermolar widths were measured to evaluate the maxillary growth pattern in patients with unoperated cleft palate. Due to the small sample size, both independent T-test and Mann Whitney non-parametric tests were performed to analyze the statistical significance of the data. Results: According to both the T-test and Mann Whitney non-parametric tests, the inter-premolar width including both the first and second premolars was statistically significantly smaller in the affected group with p values of 0.003 and 0.00 respectively. There was no significant difference in the inter-canine width between the affected and control group due to the variable canine position in cleft palate patients. Due to small sample size, no significant difference in the intermolar width between the affected and control group could be established. Conclusion: The interpremolar width is significantly smaller in patients with adult sized cleft palates than individuals with normal adult sized palates.