The effect of Hotz Plate on the Articulation of Cleft Palate Children

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Objective: The object of the present study was to clarify the effect of Hotz Plate on the articulation of cleft palate children.Design: (1) We record and analyzed the tongue movement of cleft palate infants with and without Hotz Plate during sucking and swallowing by means of ultrasonography, and compared the result with that of normal infants. (2) We also examined the articilation of 15 children with Hotz Plate and compared the result with that of 91 cleft palate children with no history of the use of Hotz Plate. Results. (1) The downward movement of dorsum of the tongue during sucking was greater in the cleft palate cases than in the normal. This tendency was also seen in the cleft palate cases with Hotz plate. The result would suggest that even with Hotz Plate cleft palate infants could not make effective negative pressure sucking. (2) The articulation of children with Hotz Plate was not significantly different from that of those without Hotz Plate. More longitudinal data must be needed before we reach a conclusion on the effect of Hotz Plate on abnormal articulation. We found palatalyzed articulation in most of children with Hotz Plate made of hard resin, which was often loosely attached to the palate. Fitness of the plate to the palate seemed a significant factor to prevent abnormal articulation. Fistula were found in the children who had worn Hotz Palate until patatoplasty using a mucosal flap. The use of Hotz Palate should be discontinued at a certain time before the palataplasty in order to avoid excessive local stimulation.