SynthesisAmerican journal of orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics : official publication of the American Association of Orthodontists, its constituent societies, and the American Board of Orthodontics2025
Effectiveness of nasoalveolar molding treatment for babies with nonsyndromic complete unilateral cleft lip, alveolus, and palate: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in American journal of orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics : official publication of the American Association of Orthodontists, its constituent societies, and the American Board of Orthodontics, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Cleft Care India Study: A National Audit on Patients with Non-Syndromic Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate: Surgical Procedures and Outcomes.The Cleft palate-craniofacial journal : official publication of the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association · 2026Article
- Evaluating the Effectiveness of Nasoalveolar Molding in the Management of Children with Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate: A Cohort Study.Dentistry journal · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
introductionThis systematic review aimed to compare the effectiveness of nasoalveolar molding (NAM) treatment with no NAM group for babies with nonsyndromic unilateral cleft lip, alveolus, and palate.
methodsAll relevant studies from 1946 to February 2024 were identified using several sources, including The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, LILACS, Scopus, EMBASE, MEDLINE (Ovid), and ePUB ahead of publications and nonindexed citations. The criteria for this review were as follows: (1) studies with a randomized controlled trial (RCT) and controlled clinical trial (CCT) design; (2) the target population included patients with nonsyndromic complete unilateral cleft lip, alveolus, and palate; (3) the intervention group received NAM treatment before lip repair, whereas the comparison group did not; and (4) the primary outcome was nasolabial esthetics measured using Asher McDade index. All articles were screened for the title, abstract, and full text independently and in duplicate by 2 reviewers. The quality assessment of RCT was performed using Cochrane's risk of bias tool, and the CCT was assessed using the Risk Of Bias In Nonrandomized Studies of Interventions tool.
resultsOut of the 1432 studies retrieved, 2 RCTs and 3 CCTs were included. One RCT was assessed as having a high risk of bias, whereas the other had an unclear risk. All included CCTs were rated as having a high risk of bias. The studies showed a statistically significant reduction in cleft width favoring the NAM group, and 1 study with a high risk of bias reported significantly better long-term intercanine width for NAM. However, none of the included studies examined long-term or short-term nasolabial esthetics or other functional or esthetic outcomes over the long term.
conclusionsNo conclusions can be drawn on the nasolabial esthetics as none of the included studies evaluated this primary outcome in the short or long term. There is low certainty of evidence supporting the short-term effectiveness of NAM for cleft width reduction in patients with complete unilateral cleft lip, alveolus, and palate. Further high-quality studies are needed to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of NAM treatment, enabling clinicians and patients to make informed decisions. REGISTRATION: The protocol for the systematic review was registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews from the National Institute for Health Research database (Prospero No. CRD42024503388).
fundingThis work was supported by the DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance Grant (No. IA/CPHS/20/1/505255; awarded to Badri Thiruvenkatachari).
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.