Asymmetric Dental Development Investigated by Cone-Beam Computed Tomography in Patients With Unilateral Cleft Lip and Alveolus

Objective:  To investigate a possible delay in dental development of cleft-side teeth compared with the contralateral teeth in patients with unilateral cleft lip and alveolus with or without cleft palate (UCLA ± CP) and to correlate this delay to developmental stages of the corresponding teeth. Design:  Cross-sectional study. Setting:  Cleft Lip and Palate Care Center of Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai, China. Patients:  Forty Chinese patients with UCLA ± CP. Main Outcome Measure:  Crown height (CH), root length (RL), and full length (FL) of permanent incisors, canines, premolars, and first molars were measured using cone-beam computed tomography and compared between cleft and noncleft sides. Discrepancies in tooth length between sides during different developmental stages of delayed teeth were also compared. Results:  There were no statistically significant differences in tooth length between sides in the mandible, except for RL of lateral incisors and RL and FL of the second premolars. In the...