Sizes of dental arches and general body growth up to 6 years of age in children with isolated cleft palate.

Development of the dental arches and height and weight at the ages of 3 yr and 6 yr were studied longitudinally in 60 children with isolated cleft palate (CP) and in 50 noncleft (NONC) children. Retrospective comparisons were also made in the CP group with arch size at the age of 0.2 yr and 1.8 yr. Anterior width at 0.2 yr of age was associated with canine width at the age of 3 yr (r = 0.70) and 6 yr (r = 0.60). Change in maxillary posterior width from 3 yr to 6 yr of age was related to the extension of the cleft, so that in the group with total cleft this dimension diminished. Measured in standard deviation scores (SDS), the means of maxillary width at canines and primary second molars in CP children varied from -1.0 to -2.0 and mandibular dimensions from -0.6 to -1.4. Discrepancy in arch depth diminished with age. Body size differed less from normal than the size of the dental arches. At 3 yr of age the height was -0.4 SDS in CP boys and -0.5 SDS in CP girls, but at 6 yr of age only -0.1 SDS in both boys and girls. Correlations between body size and the size of the dental arches were generally low (r less than 0.20) both in CP and NONC children. The small size of the dental arches in CP children does not seem to be merely a reflection of the overall smaller size of CP children.