Failed attendances at hospital dental clinics among young patients with cleft lip and palate.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of missed dental appointments among children with a cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P). DESIGN: A prospective study of failed appointments over a 12-month period. SETTING: Three different CL/P clinics within a British dental hospital. PATIENTS: Forty-five CL/P children (mean age of 8.8 years) and 45 age-matched, gender-matched, and postal code-matched noncleft patients. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The overall percentage of missed appointments at three different clinics by CL/P patients and the difference in attendance rates at the pediatric dentistry clinic between CL/P and non-CL/P children. RESULTS: Pediatric dentistry had the highest rate of missed appointments (22.4%), followed by the multidisciplinary cleft clinic (9.2%) and the orthodontic clinic (8.8%). CL/P patients missed a significantly greater proportion of their pediatric dentistry appointments than noncleft children (22.4% versus 11.9%). Patients with a bilateral CL/P were significantly more likely to miss an appointment than patients with a unilateral CL/P. Age, gender, medical history, and distance traveled had no significant effect on attendance rates. CONCLUSIONS: Further work is needed to identify risk factors for poor attendance and to develop strategies to reduce the frequency of missed appointments in this vulnerable group.