Norwegian Orthodontists' Experience and Challenges With Treatment of Patients With Cleft Lip and Palate

Background:

Patients born with cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P) have orthodontic treatment challenges due to maxilla deficiency, malocclusions, and dental abnormalities. In Norway, orthodontic treatment is done by centralized CL/P teams. Due to traveling restrictions, this treatment might be done locally in the future. The experience of Norwegian community orthodontists in managing such patients has not been investigated previously.

Objective:

To assess Norwegian orthodontists’ management of patients with CL/P and need for further education.

Material and Methods:

All orthodontists in Norway were sent a questionnaire about their experience, challenges, and knowledge and asked about their need of further theoretical education and clinical training in the management of patients with CL/P.

Results:

Norwegian orthodontists’ standard of knowledge of CL/P treatment is adequate. However, few respondents have treated a high number of cleft patients. Eighty-six percent of the participants believed that treating CL/P patients involves challenges, such as time-consuming treatment and technical difficulties. Increased perceived need for more education was revealed among participants stated unpreparedness during education (4 folds), encountered challenges, and lack of knowledge (almost 3 folds).

Conclusions:

The study revealed that community orthodontists in Norway lack experience and acknowledged the challenges in treating patients with CL/P. Most of the respondents perceived a need for additional education and clinical training to treat CL/P patients competently. The findings suggested more focus on patients with CL/P management in the curricula and more collaboration between centralized CL/P teams and community orthodontists.

Custom-Made Cleft Palate Models to Teach V-Y Pushback Palatoplasty

ABSTRACT

We developed custom-made cleft palate (CP) models to teach V-Y pushback palatoplasty, with a focus on design and mucoperiosteal elevation.A model (23 cm wide, 30 cm long, and 13 cm high) was made using silicone (model 1; M1). On the palate of a skull model, 2 layers of colored rubber clay were applied to represent the superficial oral mucoperiosteum and deep nasal mucosa (model 2; M2). From the greater palatine foramen, threads of dental floss were inserted inside the clay, representing the greater palatine artery. In a workshop, a mouth gag was applied on M1, and participants designed 2-flap palatoplasty and 4-flap palatoplasty. On the palate of M2, incisions were made with a #15 blade. On M2, a mucoperiosteal flap (rubber clay over the hard palate) was elevated using a periosteal elevator, avoiding injury to the dental floss mimicking the greater palatine artery. Six participants were recruited for the workshop and were asked to rate their satisfaction with the outcome on a Likert scale.For CP design, participants answered that they had learned useful knowledge from this workshop, reflecting a significant improvement (4.0 ± 1.1 for incomplete CP, 4.2 ± 1.2 for complete CP). They became confident in this skill after the workshop (4.2 ± 0.8 for incomplete CP, 3.8 ± 0.8 for complete CP). For cleft mucoperiosteal flap elevation, they likewise learned useful knowledge (4.7 ± 0.5 for incomplete CP, 4.5 ± 0.5 for complete CP) and became confident in this skill (3.8 ± 0.8 for incomplete CP, 4.0 ± 0.6 for complete CP.)These models can be useful for V-Y pushback palatoplasty training for medical personnel.