Syngnathia and Van der Woude syndrome: a case report and literature review.

OBJECTIVE: Syngnathia is a rare anomaly involving soft tissue or bony adhesions between the maxilla and mandible. We review the literature and present a case of syngnathia associated with Van der Woude syndrome. Syngnathia can have very different etiologies, but this has rarely been reported in Van der Woude syndrome. Treatment of this condition is rarely discussed in the literature because of a paucity of case reports.

RESULTS: Oral adhesion (syngnathia) in our patient was caused by a mandibular to maxillary fibrous band. Surgical treatment was successful. Clinical implications and review of literature for the treatment of this rare association of syngnathia and Van der Woude syndrome are discussed.