Digital quantification of intersegmental alveolar ridge distance in unilateral cleft lip and palate using intraoral scanning

PURPOSE: To demonstrate the feasibility of a standardized digital workflow for quantifying intersegmental alveolar ridge distance in infants with unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) undergoing presurgical infant orthopedic treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective pilot feasibility study included six infants with nonsyndromic UCLP. Five infants were treated with presurgical lip, alveolus, and nose approximation, and one was treated with nasoalveolar molding. Serial intraoral scans were obtained at birth, 6 weeks after initiation of therapy, completion of presurgical treatment, and 6 weeks following primary lip repair. Intersegmental alveolar ridge distance was measured digitally as the linear distance between the most lateral aspects of the greater and lesser alveolar segments adjacent to the cleft defect. RESULTS: The workflow was successfully applied to serial scans at all evaluated time points. Measurements demonstrated changes in the intersegmental alveolar ridge distance across the treatment timeline, illustrating the ability of the workflow to longitudinally quantify alveolar segment approximation. CONCLUSIONS: This pilot study demonstrates the feasibility of a standardized digital workflow for objective quantification of intersegmental alveolar ridge distance in infants with UCLP. The workflow provides a potential standardized method for longitudinal measurement of intersegmental alveolar ridge distance and may serve as one component of future multidimensional assessments of presurgical infant orthopedic treatment.