Background: Cleft lip and/or palate are congenital malformations that involve the oral cavity and may also extend to affect the face due to incomplete fusion of sutures in the intrauterine life.
Objectives: Assess caries experience, oral hygiene and gingival status in children with cleft lip and/or palate (CLP) compared to a non-cleft control group.
Materials and Methods: 152 children aged (4-12) years old, with cleft lip and/or palate (n=76) and non-cleft control (n=76) have participated in this study. Clinical examination assessed caries experience (dmft, dft and DMFT indices), plaque index and gingival index for both groups.
Results: The median dmft, dft and DMFT indices scores were statistically higher in CLP group than control group at P= 0.033, P=0.047 and P=0.001 respectively. The median plaque index for CLP children was 1.55 whereas for non-cleft children, it was 1.30 with a statistically significant difference at P