Abstract
An epidemiologic study was conducted on white children with unilateral cleft lip and cleft lip and palate to investigate the relationship between craniomandibular dysfunction and malocclusion. The results showed no statistically significant correlations between each clinical sign and symptom of craniomandibular dysfunction and each type of malocclusion. When the definitional symptoms of craniomandibular dysfunction were aggregated, a statistically significant correlation was found only with anterior crossbite. Anterior crossbite, in most of the subjects with cleft lip and cleft lip and palate, is associated with skeletofacial growth disturbances. It is suggested, therefore, that the relationship between skeletofacial pattern and craniomandiubular dysfunction be investigated.
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Apostole P. Vanderas
Dr. Apostole P. Vanderas has completed a graduate resident-postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dental Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, doing research for an M.D.S. degree on the prevalence of craniomandibular dysfunction in children. He received his D.D.S. and J.D. degrees at the University of Athens, and his M.P.H. degree at the University of Pittsburgh. He is a member of the American Dental Association, the American Society of Dentistry for Children, and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. He is currently in private practice in Greece.