Craniofacial sutures absorb the stress transferred to skull. It was reported the cells of craniofacial sutures respond to exogenetic factors to be involved in growth control mechanism. In this study, we constructed a finite element model composed of cortical bone, cancellous bone, suture, PDL, and teeth by using CT images of a growing patient, simulating maxillary expansion to evaluate the effects of the thickness of sutures and type of maxillary expansion appliance on stress distribution in circummaxillary sutures.

Cleft lip and palate is the most common congenital facial malformation and has a significant developmental, physical, and psychological impact on those with the deformity and their families. When treating the patients with unilateral cleft lip, many surgeons adopt the rotation advancement flap method originally developed by Millard, or the triangular flap technique developed by Tennison, Randall or the modifications of these techniques. Among these, Millard's rotation advancement flap method has its advantage in designing the flap using the patient's anatomic landmarks. For performing this rotation advancement technique, skillful operation is needed to obtain esthetically satisfactory results. Vomer flap sometimes is used to repair anterior hard palate in complete cleft lip and palate patients. Vomerine tissue is readily available in the vicinity of the palatal defect and elevation of the vomerine flap is relatively simple procedure. In this article, we will introduce the comprehensive vomer flap technique conjunction with primary lip closure and review the comparative studies of the outcome of simultaneous repair of cleft lip and cleft hard palate with Millard's rotation advancement method and vomer flap.

Our Team Approach consists of following five stages; (1) Peri-natal care until lip repair After ultrasound diagnosis, some obstetricians recommend the mother with CL/P fetus to undergo prenatal counseling in our CLP clinic. On the day the CL/P baby was born, our oral surgeon, nurse, and pedodontist visit the maternity clinic, and take counseling and take impression for a feeding plate. The cheiloplasty is performed in three months old. (2) From lip repair to palatal repair At one year of age, Otorhinolaryngologist checks middle-ear disease. Palatoplasty is carried out at 1.5 - 2 years old. (3) In deciduous and early mixed dentitions Speech is the most important issue in social life for the CL/P subjects, therefore the training of velopharyngeal function is essential. Orthodontist monitors dentofacial development from 5 years of age. In the case of severe maxillary under-growth or severe collapse, maxillary protractor or lateral expansion is indicative, respectively. In early mixed dentition, upper central incisor on the cleft area erupts with some torsion, and then the traumatic occlusion with tooth torsion must be corrected. (4) In mixed dentition Right before the eruption of upper canines, secondary bone grafting is performed. One year prior to the operation, maxillary fan-type expansion is carried out to correct the collapse of maxillary segments. Following the surgical operation, the erupted canine will be moved into the transplanted bone to avoid alveolar resorption. (5) In permanent dentition Final tooth alignment is carried out after eruption of second molars. Some cases may require orthognathic surgery after physical maturation. Prosthetic oral rehabilitation including the dental-implant is carried out after age eighteen.

Macroglossia is a relatively uncommon condition that occurs in pediatric patients for several reasons and contributes to variety of functional problems. Most of macroglossia arises from tissue overgrowth and tongue muscle hypertrophy. There are no definite guideline in prenatal management or diagnosis in this conditions. However, macroglossia is often associated with syndrome or congenital disease, prenatal diagnosis is important in early detection. There are difficulty in measurement of tongue size, and standardization. Macroglossia can be risky in some aspects, such as airway obstruction. In this review, the author suggest prenatal ultrasonographic findings of macroglossia, investigate differential diagnosis of conditions associated with macroglossia, and management in clinical situation. Macroglossia, when present, can cause a number of functional and aesthetic problems for individuals. Treatment of this problem is challenging and controversial.

Le Fort 1 osteotomy or maxillary advancement with distraction osteogenesis (DO) is main treatment strategy for cleft palate patients with maxillary hypoplasia. Maxillary DO allows greater maxillary advancement within physiological limit than Le Fort 1 osteotomy. Moreover, it is better for velopharyngeal function. However, there is a greater tendency for an increase in nasal sound when maxilla is advanced excessively. Therefore, the advancement of anterior maxillary segment using DO has been utilized. It offers advantages such as an increase in the length of the palate, a prevention of the change in palatopharyngeal depth, and a preservation of the velopharyngeal function. Moreover, it will obliterate the necessity of bone graft, and it prevents the occurrence of oronasal or oroantral fistula. Finally, it stimulates the regeneration of the soft and hard tissue of alveolus, and subsequently makes possible to place implant.

Velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI) is improper closure of velopharynx during the phonation and swallowing due to various causes, especially appeared in cleft palate patients. The several surgical techniques and speech therapy can be considered in treatment of VPI. The surgical techniques such as Furlow's double opposing Z-plasty, pharyngeal flap, push-back palatoplasty, etc. have been widely used when the speech therapy is not so much effective. However, there is considerable variability in the methods for evaluation and in success criteria making difficult to compare among surgical techniques. This article reviewed the recent articles about comparing the surgical techniques in treatment of VPI. Although there is no significant difference in speech assessment by speech pathologist, Furlow's double opposing Z-plasty is a useful technique especially diminishing hypernasality and nasal emission.