Abstract

Cleft lip and palate patients often develop maxillary retrusion after cleft repair. Maxillary protraction treatment during early childhood helps to achieve more favorable occlusion with positive overjet and overbite and allows a more normal growth pattern to occur. The purpose of this study was to investigate the skeletal and dental changes during reverse headgear treatment in a homogenous group, i.e., Chinese boys born with unilateral complete cleft lip and palate.

The results showed that after 7.8 months of reverse headgear wear, normalization of the sagittal maxillomandibular relationship (ANB angle) was achieved. Significant skeletal changes included anterior position of the maxilla and posterior position of the mandible. Dental changes within the respective skeletal units were not significant except for the mandibular molar.