Maternal Risk Factors Associated with Cleft Lip with or without Cleft Palate: A Review

Disruptions in the development of the nasal and oral structures lead to cleft palate and cleft lip. There are many different factors that can affect this development such as genetic, mechanical traumas or teratogeny. The oral clefts are one of the most common birth defects worldwide affecting approximately 1 in 700 to 1000 children. The development of oral clefts is multifactorial and affect a significant portion of the population. The study results showed that smoking is the risk factor most associated with oral clefts (OR 1.09 to 2.11) and the least associated is the ingestion of folic acid (OR 0.59). Many of the risk factors discussed in this article will show an increase in the development of oral clefts although, some of the data could not be effectively compared due to differences in the methodology of each study and the subjective measures used.