Microbial Profile and Dental Caries in Cleft Lip and Palate Babies Between 0 and 3 Years Old

The aim of this study was to examine the microbiological changes in newborn babies with cleft lip palate from birth up to age 3 and to correlate them with their caries levels and mothers’ microbiological data and to compare with normal infants. Prospective. Marmara University, Faculty of Dentistry, Pediatric Dentistry Clinic, and ？i？li Hamidiye Etfal Education and Research Hospital New Born Clinic. Cleft lip palate (n = 21) and healthy (n = 13) newborns and their mothers. Intraoral samples were taken from babies in each group at least 3 times over the 3 years. Saliva samples of the mothers were collected just after the birth of the babies and examined microbiologically. Dental caries was noted as either present or absent. The most frequent microorganisms were candida, found at birth (n = 9, 42%) in cleft palate with or without cleft lip (CP±L) group. The number of babies infected with Lactobacilli were found to be significantly higher in the CP±L group than in the control group at birth (P = .029) and after eruption of the first primary tooth (P = .030). Mutans Streptococci were found in 10% of babies with CP±L at birth. Initial caries was identified in 20% of the babies with an oral cleft compared with 0% of the controls after eruption of the first primary incisors. The results show that the CP±L babies must be considered as a group with an increased caries risk