ABSTRACT
The goal of this study was to digitally evaluate the development of maxillary dental arches of children with unilateral cleft lip and palate treated with one- and two-stage palatal closure. One hundred and sixty-eight digitized dental models of cheiloplasty and one-stage palatoplasty (G1) and cheiloplasty and two-stage palatoplasty (G2) were evaluated at preoperative time 1 (T1), preoperative time 2 (T2), and postoperative (T3). The following surface distances were evaluated: across surface distance; cleft widths anterior (P-P′) and posterior (U-U′) cleft widths, intercanine width (C-C′), and intertuberosity width (T-T′); smallest (P′-T′) and largest (P-T) segment lengths; and smallest (C′-D′) and largest (C-D) segment cleft depths. In G1, P-P′, U-U′, and C-C′ reduced at T2, unlike P′-T′ (P<0.05). P-T and C′-D′ distances increased at T3 (P<0.05), while C-D increased at all stages (P<0.001). In G2, U-U′ and C-C′ reduced at T2 (P<0.05), while P′-T′, P-T, C′-D′, and C-D′ increased at T3 (P<0.001). In an intergroup analysis of growth rate, G2 showed higher growth percentages compared to G1, in which C′-D′ was significant (P=0.038). Furthermore, C′-D′ presented a coefficient of determination of 0.076 (P=0.039). In conclusion, dental arch development is influenced by the rehabilitation protocol. However, in the sample evaluated, the comparison suggested that individuals whose palate was operated on in two stages had the most favorable palatal growth.