3-D Analysis of Palatal Morphology Associated with Palatalized Articulation in Patients with Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate

Palatalized articulation is one of the major articulation disorders which patients with cleft palate face after palatoplasty. Various causal factors have been suggested to date, but the main cause remains poorly understood. To clarify the possible causes of palatalized articulation in speakers with cleft palate, three-dimensional palatal morphology in patients with/without palatalized articulation in unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) was analyzed.Twelve UCLP patients with palatalized articulation (P group) and 20 UCLP patients with normal articulation (N group) participated in the present study. Speech was assessed in the two groups at the age of about four. Dental casts of the maxilla taken at the same time were analyzed three-dimensionally, and measurements in the horizontal, frontal, and sagittal planes were compared between patients with palatalized articulation and those with normal articulation. All dental casts were measured with a non-contact 3D laser scanner and the 3D data were analyzed with 3D-analyzing software.Our study demonstrated three major findings of palatal morphology in UCLP patients with palatalized articulation when compared with their non-palatalized counterparts : 1) the posterior region of the palate was narrow in the horizontal plane, 2) asymmetry of the anterior palate was severe in the frontal plane, and 3) the palate was flat and shallow in the sagittal plane.These findings suggested that palate deformities can affect the lingual-contact pattern, and may account for the backward movement of the articulation point.