Unveiling Oral Health Differences: Gingival Health and Hygiene in Children With and Without Cleft Lip and Palate

Objective To compare the oral hygiene and gingival health of children with and without cleft lip and palate. Design Cross-sectional comparative study. Setting Institutional tertiary referral hospital. Patients/Participants This study was conducted on 108 children aged 6 to 12 years, divided into 3 groups: Group 1 = children with cleft lip and alveolus with or without cleft palate, unilateral or bilateral ( n = 36, 22 boys and 14 girls, aged 8, 39 ± 1.61 years), Group 2 = children with isolated cleft palate ( n = 36, 8 boys and 28 girls, 8.11 ± 1.88 years); and Group 3 = children without clefts ( n = 36, 18 boys and 18 girls, 8.53 ± 1.33 years). Main Outcome Measures The clinical parameters evaluated were Gingival Index (GI) and Patient Hygiene Performance (PHP) Index. analysis of variance and Kruskal–Wallis tests were used to evaluate intergroup differences. Correlations between the variables age, PHP Index and GI were assessed by the Spearman correlation ( P < .05). Results The results demonstrated no statistically significant difference between the three groups for the PHP index ( P = .126). There was also no intergroup difference for GI ( P = .418). Conclusions No difference for the gingival status was observed between children with cleft lip and palate and with isolated cleft palate. Children with oral clefts present adequate gingival status compared to noncleft children.