Like other children, children born with cleft lip and cleft palate require proper cleaning, good nutrition, and fluoride treatment in order to have healthy teeth. Appropriate cleaning with a small, soft-bristled toothbrush should begin as soon as teeth erupt.
How to cure cleft lip?
Children with a cleft lip or palate will need several treatments and assessments as they grow up. A cleft is usually treated with surgery. Other treatments, such as speech therapy and dental care, may also be needed. Your child will be cared for by a specialist cleft team at an NHS cleft centre. Your child's care plan
How long does recovery take after adult cleft lip repair?
Traditionally, infants with cleft lip, cleft palate, or both have been fed using a NUK orthodontic nipple or a harder cross-cut nipple placed on a squeezable bottle.
How do you fix a cleft palate?
How are cleft lip and palate treated? A cleft lip may require 1 or 2 surgeries, depending on the extent (complete or incomplete) and width (narrow or wide) of the cleft. The first surgery is usually performed by the time a baby is 3 months old. Several techniques can improve the outcomes of cleft lip and palate repairs when used appropriately before surgery.
What is the cure for cleft lip?
Is cleft lip and palate curable?
The good news is that cleft palate with unilateral cleft lip is treatable. Most babies born with orofacial clefts can have surgery to repair the defect within their first year, and will go on to lead normal, healthy lives. They may, however, need to have additional surgeries as they grow older.
At what age should cleft lip be repaired?
Cleft lip repair: A cleft lip usually is repaired between 3 and 6 months of age. Many things will determine the right time for surgery; the right time for one child may not be good for another. Cleft palate repair: A cleft palate is commonly fixed between 9 and 14 months of age.Apr 24, 2017
How do you treat a child with cleft lip?
Caring for a child with a cleft palate Bottle-feeding usually works better than breastfeeding. Some mothers pump their breast milk and give it to their babies in bottles. Watch your baby for problems with choking, gagging, or milk coming out through the nose while feeding.
Can a child live a normal life with a cleft lip and palate?
The majority of children treated for cleft lip or palate grow up to have completely normal lives. Most affected children will not have any other serious medical problems and treatment can usually improve the appearance of the face and problems with feeding and speech.
Is cleft surgery painful?
Some pain is normal after palate repair. Your surgeon and medical team will work together to achieve the best pain control possible, but your child may still experience discomfort.
Is cleft palate surgery necessary?
At the minimum, one surgery is needed to repair the lip and a separate surgery is needed to repair the palate. However, several surgeries are needed to make the lip appear as normal as possible. And sometimes additional surgeries involving the palate are needed to improve speech.
How is cleft lip repaired?
The most common type of cleft lip repair is a rotation advancement repair. The plastic surgeon will make an incision on each side of the cleft from the lip to the nostril. The two sides of the lip are then sutured together, using tissue from the area to rearrange and close the lip as needed.
How long is a cleft palate surgery?
When general anesthesia is needed, there are important rules for eating and drinking that must be followed in the hours before the surgery. This surgery usually takes between 2 to 6 hours, depending on the type of cleft palate repair your child needs. Your child will stay overnight for at least 1 day after the surgery.
What is the difference between cleft lip and cleft palate?
Cleft lip is a birth defect in which a baby's upper lip doesn't form completely and has an opening in it. Cleft palate is a birth defect in which a baby's palate (roof of the mouth) doesn't form completely and has an opening in it. These birth defects are called oral clefts or orofacial clefts.
Is having a cleft lip a disability?
MYTH: Children with a cleft are 'disabled' or have learning difficulties. FACT: A cleft is not a 'disability'. It may affect a child in ways that mean they need extra help, but most children with a cleft are not affected by any other condition and are capable of doing just as well at school as any other child.
Does a cleft lip affect the brain?
Cognitive deficits in syndromic clefting are frequent and often severe (mental retardation). The cognitive deficits associated with isolated clefts of the lip and/or palate (ICLP) are less severe, but the functional consequences of these deficits should not be underestimated.
What foods cause cleft lip?
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Pregnant women who eat a meat-rich, fruit-poor diet may be doubling their baby's likelihood of being born with a cleft lip or cleft palate, Dutch researchers report.Aug 10, 2007
What is the best treatment for a cleft palate?
Speech and language therapy. Repairing a cleft palate will significantly reduce the chance of speech problems, but in some cases, children with a repaired cleft palate still need speech therapy . A speech and language therapist (SLT) will assess of your child's speech several times as they get older.
How to treat a cleft lip?
Children with a cleft lip or palate will need several treatments and assessments as they grow up. A cleft is usually treated with surgery. Other treatments, such as speech therapy and dental care, may also be needed. Your child will be cared for by a specialist cleft team at an NHS cleft centre.
Why is breastfeeding difficult for babies with cleft palate?
Feeding help and advice. Many babies with a cleft palate have problems breastfeeding because of the gap in the roof of their mouth. They may struggle to form a seal with their mouth – so they may take in a lot of air and milk may come out of their nose.
How long does it take to repair a cleft lip?
The operation usually takes 1 to 2 hours. Most babies are in hospital for 1 to 2 days.
How long does it take to repair a baby's palate?
Palate repair surgery is usually done when your baby is 6 to 12 months old. The gap in the roof of the mouth is closed and the muscles and the lining of the palate are rearranged. The wound is closed with dissolvable stitches. The operation usually takes about 2 hours and is done using a general anaesthetic.
How to treat cleft palate in children?
Hearing problems may improve after cleft palate repair and, if necessary, can be treated by inserting tiny plastic tubes called grommets into the eardrums. These allow the fluid to drain from the ear. Sometimes, hearing aids may be recommended.
Can a cleft be tilted?
If a cleft involves the gum area, it's common for teeth on either side of the cleft to be tilted or out of position. Often a tooth may be missing, or there may be an extra tooth. A paediatric dentist will monitor the health of your child's teeth and recommend treatment when necessary.
What is passive molding?
A passive (nasoalveolar molding) presurgical molding device. The nasoalveolar molding appliance can also be used with large clefts. In addition to moving the alveolar ridges together, nasal stents are added to reposition the tip of the nose and aid in establishing symmetry of the nose and lip segments.
What is VPI in a child?
Velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI) occurs in cleft and noncleft children. VPI can be the consequence of anatomic or functional problems within the velum and nasopharynx. On last review of our population of patients, about 15 to 20% of our cleft palate patients were diagnosed with VPI.
What is a nurse coordinator?
A specialty nurse coordinator acts as a liaison between the patient and family and the craniofacial team. There may be some variability in the specific roles of the surgeons on the team, but these usually consist of a plastic surgeon, otolaryngologist, and oral surgeon.
What is the best way to fix a cleft lip?
A nasal elevator is used to help form the correct shape of the baby’s nose. A nasal-alveolar molding ( NAM) device may be used to help mold the lip tissues into a more favorable position in preparation for the lip repair.
What is a cleft lip?
A cleft results when the tissues do not join together properly. A cleft lip is a physical separation of the two sides of the upper lip, and appears as a narrow or wide opening or gap in all layers of the upper lip. This separation can include the gum line or the palate. A cleft palate is a split or opening in the roof of the mouth.
Why do babies have clefts?
Most scientists believe clefts are caused by a combination of genetic (inherited) and environmental (related to the natural world) factors. There seems to be a greater chance of newborn having a cleft if a sibling, parent or other relative has had the problem.
How many babies have cleft palate?
Cleft lip and/or cleft palate affects 1 in 1,000 babies every year, and is the fourth most common birth defect in the United States. Clefts occur more often in children of Asian descent. Twice as many boys as girls have a cleft lip, both with and without a cleft palate.
When is the first cleft lip surgery?
The first surgery is usually performed by the time a baby is 3 months old. Several techniques can improve the outcomes of cleft lip and palate repairs when used appropriately before surgery. They are non-invasive and dramatically change the shape of the baby’s lip, nose and mouth:
What causes a cleft lip?
Other factors that can contribute to development of a cleft include: The condition may also occur as a result of exposure to viruses or chemicals while the baby is in the womb. In other situations, cleft lip and cleft palate may be part of another medical condition.
Can a cleft palate cause hearing loss?
If they are not treated, ear infections can cause hearing loss. Speech problems: Children with cleft palate may also have trouble speaking.
