Search

Background: Alveolar bone grafting is utilized to manage alveolar clefts in patients with cleft lip and palate. However, the timing of bone grafting is variable with conflicting evidence supporting the use of primary alveolar bone grafting (PABG) in clinical practice. Primary Aim: To provide a qualitative systematic review analysis of long-term outcomes after PABG. Materials and Methods: A qualitative systematic review was performed following the Cochrane Handbook and reported using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Summative findings were evaluated using Confidence in the Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative research to assess the quality of evidence supporting the findings. Results: After removing duplication, 2182 publications were identified, and 2131 were excluded after screening through titles and abstracts. Inclusion criteria for this study included patients who underwent PABG at 24 months of age or younger and a minimum of 5 year follow-up. Thirty-two publications met the inclusion criteria and were included for qualitative analysis. Primary outcome measures included cephalometric analysis, bone graft survival, occlusal analysis, hypomineralization, tooth eruption, radiograph analysis, and arch relationships. Four assessment themes were characterized from the systematic review: (1) bone graft survival, (2) craniofacial skeletal relationships, (3) occlusion and arch forms, and (4) recommendations for utilizing PABG in practice. Conclusion: The reported systematic review provides evidence that performing PABG leads to poor long-term outcomes related to bone graft survival and maxillary growth restriction despite some reported positive outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Evaluate the factors that influence caregiver-reported completion of nasoalveolar molding (NAM) therapy for patients with cleft lip and palate. Design: An IRB-approved 30-question survey. Setting: Outpatient clinic for patients with cleft lip. Patients: Patients with unilateral or bilateral cleft lip treated with NAM therapy. Interventions: Survey of previous experiences. Main Outcome Measure(s): Rate of noncompletion for patients initiating NAM therapy and identifiable causes. Results: Of 94 patients who underwent NAM, 13 (13.8%) failed to complete NAM therapy. Reasons for incomplete treatment included: obstructive sleep apnea, device intolerance, tape issues, and lack of support. Patients who did not complete NAM therapy were less likely to have primary caregivers >30-year old (P =.045) and more likely to be the first child for the family (P =.021) and have a bilateral cleft (P =.03). Caregivers of NAM patients were less satisfied with the outcome (P <.001) when they did not complete therapy. Conclusion: This study shows that a high number of parents fail to complete this therapy for many reasons, personal and medical. More data are needed to elucidate true prevalence of NAM noncompletion and to establish evidence-based guidelines to reduce barriers to care for completing NAM treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that influence the parent’s choice of cleft team/surgeon. Design: A 10-question survey was used to elucidate factors that influenced parents in choosing their cleft surgeon. No identifiers of the origin of the study were used to improve parent objectivity. Setting: The setting for this study was an online survey. Participants: Participants in this study were the parents of children who were born with cleft lip and/or palate. Interventions: Parents were contacted anonymously via national, established social media websites that were independently run by the parents themselves. Main Outcome Measures: The main outcome measures were information regarding choice of cleft team/surgeon, source of patient referrals, and use of online media in decision making. Results: A total of 112 responses were received. Of the parents, 77% sought prenatal evaluation with at least one cleft surgeon. Maternal-fetal medicine specialists were the most frequent (42%) referral source, followed by primary obstetricians (14%) and pediatricians (12%). The surgeon/cleft team’s experience level and overall personality were ranked as the most important, whereas the least important was distance traveled. Of the parents, 95% used the Internet or social media for research prior to their prenatal visit; 96% of the parents found the prenatal visit helpful, and the most useful topics discussed were treatments (surgical, nonsurgical) and feeding techniques. Conclusion: This study identifies factors used to choose a cleft team/surgeon. Parents are more concerned with the experience level, reputation, and environment of the cleft team/surgeon than the distance traveled to get to the center. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]