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Objectives: This study aimed to establish a fully digital measurement protocol for standardizing the description of hard palate and cleft morphology in neonates with an isolated cleft palate (CPO) and Pierre Robin sequence (PRS). Materials and Methods: A total of 20 digitized plaster models of neonates with CPO and 20 digitized plaster models of neonates with PRS were retrospectively investigated. For the control group, the hard palate was segmented from 21 pre‐existing 1.5 T MRI datasets of neonates and exported as an STL file. The digital models were marked with predefined reference points by three raters. Distance, angular, and area measurements were performed using Blender and MeshLab. Results: Neonates with CPO (20.20 ± 2.33 mm) and PRS (21.41 ± 1.81 mm) had a significantly shorter hard palate than the control group (23.44 ± 2.24 mm) (CPO vs. control: P <.001; PRS vs. control: P =.014). Notably, neonates with PRS (33.05 ± 1.95 mm) demonstrated a significantly wider intertuberosity distance than those with CPO (30.52 ± 2.28 mm) (P =.012). Furthermore, there were also significant differences measured between the cleft and control groups (25.22 ± 2.50 mm) (P <.001). Conclusions: The data from this study demonstrate the feasibility of using MRI datasets to generate digital models of the hard palate. The presence of a cleft palate leads to pronounced adaptations of the total palatal surface area, dorsal width, and length of the hard palate. Mandibular retrognathia and altered tongue position in PRS, as opposed to CPO, might further impact palatal morphology and intertuberosity distance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Skull morphology and growth patterns are essential for orthodontic treatment, impacting clinical decision making. We aimed to determine the association of different cephalometric skeletal configurations on midface parameters as measured in 3D CT datasets., Materials and Methods: After sample size calculation, a total of 240 fully dentulous patients between 20 and 79 years of age (mean age: 42 ± 15), who had received a CT of the skull within the scope of trauma diagnosis or intracranial bleeding, were retrospectively selected. On the basis of cephalometric analysis, using MPR reconstructions, patients were subdivided into three different vertical skull configurations (brachyfacial, mesofacial, dolichofacial) and the respective skeletal Class I, II, and III relationships. Anatomic parameters were measured using a three-dimensional post-processing console: the thickness of the maxillary and palatine bones as well as the alveolar crest, maxillary body and sutural length, width and height of the hard palate, maxillary facial wall thickness, and masseter muscle thickness and length., Results: Individuals with brachyfacial configurations had a significantly increased palatal and alveolar ridge thicknesses compared to those with dolichofacial- or mesofacial configurations. Brachyfacial configurations presented a significantly increased length and thickness of the masseter muscle (4.599 cm; 1.526 cm) than mesofacial (4.431 cm; 1.466 cm) and dolichofacial configurations (4.405 cm; 1.397 cm) (p < 0.001). Individuals with a skeletal Class III had a significantly shorter palatal length (5.313 cm) than those with Class I (5.406 cm) and Class II (5.404 cm) (p < 0.01). Sutural length was also significantly shorter in Class III (p < 0.05)., Conclusions: Skeletal configurations have an impact on parameters of the bony skull. Also, measurable adaptations of the muscular phenotype could result., Clinical Relevance: The association between viscerocranial morphology and midface anatomy might be beneficial for tailoring orthodontic appliances to individual anatomy and planning cortically anchored orthodontic appliances., (© 2023. The Author(s).)