Psychology of Patients with Cleft Lip and Palate in Orthognathic Surgery

Abstract

Most patients with cleft lip and palate receive proper and consistent treatment; however, in some cases, patients are not satisfied with the treatment outcomes regardless of improvements in jaw function and morphology after orthognathic surgery, which is considered as one of the final phases of the treatment. Therefore, to improve patients’ satisfaction with the treatment, their psychological conditions were surveyed before and after orthognathic surgery. Thirty-four patients with cleft lip and palate completed a psychological test （MINI-124） before orthognathic surgery, and the findings revealed that the majority showed high scores in each scale designed for measuring lie, hysteria, and association problem. Furthermore, the scores of hypochondriasis, hysteria, and bodily symptoms were significantly higher in patients with cleft lip and palate than in 70 jaw deformity patients without any congenital anomalies measured before surgery. In addition, a questionnaire survey on the orthognathic surgery performed at more than 6 months after the surgery, showed that patients with cleft lip and palate were mostly satisfied with their surgeries. However, some of them showed a slightly lower degree of satisfaction and a strong obsession with their lip scars and nasal deformities.