Long-term treatment outcome of presurgical nasoalveolar molding in patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of presurgical nasoalveolar molding (PNAM) in patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP). Methods: Twenty-five patients with UCLP treated by either PNAM or non-PNAM therapy between 1998 and 2003 were recruited in the study. During the clinical examination and data analysis, the evaluators were blinded to which patients received PNAM. The patients were reviewed clinically, and their facial morphology was captured with a three-dimensional scanner. Their dental arch configuration and occlusion were recorded by plaster dental models. After the patient evaluations and measurements were completed, the patient list was unblinded. There were 20 patients in the PNAM group and 5 patients in the non-PNAM group. Fisher exact tests and Wilcoxon rank sum tests were used to compare the outcomes. Results: Clinically, the improvement in the PNAM group was most evident in nasal and lip anatomy. However, there were no statistically significant differences between the 2 groups on each of the measurements on three-dimensional facial images and dental models. Conclusions: Our study suggests a trend toward a long-term clinical improvement in nasal and lip anatomy of UCLP patients treated with PNAM. However, these improved results were not confirmed by three-dimensional stereophotography. There was no statistically significant difference in the long-term three-dimensional anthropometric measurements and dental model analysis between the PNAM group and the non-PNAM group.