Objective: To conduct a systematic review with meta-analysis to assess if cleft lip and palate (CLP) patients undergoing orthodontic treatment have a higher colonization of Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus than patients without this condition.
Methods: Five electronic databases were searched systematically. The inclusion criteria were as follows: randomized clinical trials, non-randomized, or quasi-randomized controlled trials, prospective and retrospective studies published until March, 2021; articles that evaluated S. mutans and Lactobacillus profile in patients with and without cleft lip and palate undergoing orthodontic treatment. The random-effect model was used to perform the analysis of all the data collected. Statistic heterogeneity was evaluated with I2 test.
Results: In this systematic review, 2 cohort studies were included. The data analysis from 160 patients revealed that patients without cleft lip and palate had 4.5 times more predisposition to oral colonization with S. mutans than CLP patients. No statistical significant difference was found between these patients for colonization with Lactobacillus.
Conclusions: Despite the limitations in the included studies, this systematic review suggested that CLP patients have a lower predisposition to oral colonization with S. mutans when compared to healthy patients.
Keywords: Lactobacillus; Streptococcus mutans; cleft lip; cleft palate; orthodontics.
© 2021 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.