Correlation of soft palate shape with skeletal malocclusion

Introduction: Soft palate is a fibromuscular organ essential for phonation, deglutition, respiration, and velopharyngeal competence. It exists in various shapes including rat tail type, leaf type, butt type, straight line, crooked type, and S shaped. There have been studies in the literature that has compared the morphological variation of soft palate in genders and subjects of different age groups. However, the literature is limited regarding the correlation of soft palate shape with different skeletal patterns. Hence, this study was undertaken. Aims: To study various shape of soft palate on lateral cephalogram in patients with skeletal Class I, Class II, and Class III malocclusions. Settings and Design: A retrospective study. Subjects and Methods: Total 90 lateral cephalograms of skeletal Class I (30), Class II (30), and Class III (30) were classified on the basis of W angle into skeletal pattern as Class I, Class II, and Class III. Their soft palates were traced and compared for the shape variation. Statistical Analysis Used: Pearson's Chi-square test. Results: The result showed that crooked shape soft palate is more frequent type among the population. In skeletal Class I malocclusion, crooked was most frequent shape of palate followed by leaf shape. In skeletal Class II malocclusion, crooked was most common followed by rat tail type and in Class III malocclusion, butt shape was most common followed by leaf type. Conclusions: Significant correlation exists between the variants of soft palate and skeletal malocclusion