Aparato preortopédico con pines utilizado en el alineamiento de los segmentos maxilares en pacientes con labio y paladar unilateral fisurado / Pre-orthopedic appliance with pins used in alignment of maxillary segments in patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate

Este artículo describe un aparato ortopédico con pines utilizado en el tratamiento prequirúrgico para pacientes con labio y paladar unilateral completamente fisurado antes de la reparación del labio. Este aparato fue diseñado con el fin de corregir transversalmente los segmentos palatinos en la parte posterior, alinear el segmento menor en la parte anterior hacia la línea media facial y reducir la fisura cerca del labio para mejorar la forma del piso de la base nasal y evitar compensaciones quirúrgicas posteriores de los tejidos blandos.

The present article describes an orthopedic appliance with pins used in the pre-surgical treatment of fully fissured unilateral cleft lip and palate before lip reparation. This appliance was designed with the aim of transversally correct palatal segments in the posterior area, align the smaller segment in the anterior section towards the facial midline, and decrease the cleft located near the lip so as to improve the shape of the nasal base floor and avoid later surgical compensations of the soft tissues.

Pre-surgical infant orthopedics with the nasoalveolar molding (NAM) device for unilateral and bilateral cleft lip and palate: Case series

Management of infants born with cleft lip and palate entails an interdisciplinary team effort that begins from infancy to adulthood. The goal of pre-surgical infant orthopedics is to reduce the severity of the cleft deformity before surgery. However, traditional methods do not address the deformity of the nasal cartilages and alveolar ridges simultaneously. The Nasoalveolar Molding (NAM) technique takes advantage of the malleability of immature nasal cartilage and its ability to maintain a permanent correction of its form. The NAM device is used to actively mold the alar dome, nasal cartilages, premaxilla, and alveolar ridges into a more normal anatomic form and position. It permits non-surgical elongation of the columella through application of tissue expansion principles. This results in better facial aesthetics and may help reduce the extent, number and cost of surgeries. The three cases presented illustrate the application of the NAM device for the pre-surgical infant orthopedics in unilateral and bilateral cleft lip and palate patients treated at the Philippine Children's Medical Center-Pediatric Dentistry Division (PCMC-PDD).