Clinical and Microbiological Evaluation of the Periodontal Status of Children with Unilateral Complete Cleft Lip and Palate

OBJECTIVE: To compare periodontal conditions in children with and without cleft. DESIGN: Clinical examinations and microbiological analysis of 57 selected children, including 30 with unilateral complete cleft lip and palate (experimental group) and 27 without clefts (control group). SETTING: Hospital of Rehabilitation of Craniofacial Anomalies (HRCA) in Bauru, Sao Paulo, Brazil. PATIENTS, PARTICIPANTS: All children examined were healthy and between the ages of 5 and 6 years. RESULTS: The mean plaque index (PI) in the experimental group was higher (1.82 +/- 0.3) than in the control group (1.63 +/- 0.38), although this difference was not statistically significant. The mean gingival index (GI) in the experimental group (1.82 +/- 0.38) was found to be significantly higher (p <.05) than that of the control group (0.79 +/- 0.33). The cleft area in the experimental group, with a mean PI of 2.04 +/- 0.58 and mean GI of 1.11 +/- 0.26, compared with the posterior area, with a mean PI of 1.74 +/- 0.37 and mean GI of 1.04 +/- 0.26, showed a statistically significant difference only in the PI. Most of the children in both experimental and control groups presented a moderate PI degree (73.33% and 81.48%, respectively) and a high prevalence of mild gingivitis (53.33% and 70.37%, respectively). Analysis of the organisms showed that Prevotella nigrescens was detected in 16.67% of the experimental group and 11.11% of the control, whereas Porphyromonas gingivalis and Treponema denticola were not detected. CONCLUSION: Children with clefts showed greater gingival inflammation, despite the same amount of plaque and prevalence of microorganisms.