Incidence of Bilateral Cleft Lip and Palate in a University Hospital Setting-A Retrospective Study

Abstract

Cleft lip and palate (CLP) is one of the most prevalent malformations occurring in the head and neck region. Cleft lip and palate is the second most birth defect in the US after club foot. The incidence of Cleft lip and cleft palate is also very common in Indian Population with the rate of 1 in 700 births approximately. In India, the main reason for the formation of Cleft Lip and cleft palate is consanguineous marriage due to less awareness among people. Cleft lip can be unilateral or bilateral and may involve alveolus or palate. Again it can be further classified as Complete or Incomplete cleft lip and /or Cleft palate. Most of the patients were deprived of treatment, mainly due to their unawareness and their lower socio-economic status. Cleft patients need comprehensive, cleft care management. So the aim of this study is to find the incidence of bilateral cleft lip or palate in patients who reported to  Saveetha Dental College and Hospital, Chennai. This study is done with 76 patients,(40 males, 36 females)who visited a Saveetha Dental College during one year between June 2019-April 2020. All available data were extracted from patients case sheets and results were obtained through SPSS analysis. In this study, we observed that 90.5 % of patients reported with unilateral cleft lip and palate, where only 9.1% of patients reported with bilateral cases. Males were having high prevalence with 52.6 % and females 47.4%.In conclusion, male patients had higher cleft lip and palate compared to females. The incidence of bilateral cases seen among cleft lip and palate is fewer in males.