Children with orofacial clefting, specifically cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P) are known to be at risk for caries that subsequently can adversely impact treatment and functional outcomes. However, little is known about the oral health status of young children with CLP in the US or about the dietary, oral hygiene, dental experience, or parental oral health attitudes that could be amenable to intervention in future randomized controlled trials. As we intend, in subsequent planning and multi-center clinical trial applications, to design and test an expanded oral health case management model for improving the oral health of young children with CLP, additional data is needed for the design of these studies. Specifically, in preparation for future studies we aim in this pilot application to determine the prevalence of caries, plaque, and gingivitis in children with CLP, 3-5 years of age from 2 craniofacial centers (University of Iowa and Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle), in order to estimate the sample size for the upcoming RCT. As a secondary aim, we intend to identify dietary and oral hygiene habits, dental experience and parental oral health attitudes that would be amenable to intervention as part of our future case management model. ? ? ?
