Cleft Palate Care

Cleft Lip and Palate

A cleft lip can occur when the upper lip and nose do not properly form in the womb. A cleft palate can occur when the roof of the mouth does not properly form in the womb. Several factors are believed to cause clefts, but a specific cause has not been found. Some suspected factors are: genetic makeup, a lack of folic acid in the mother’s diet during her pregnancy, use of Valium and Dilantin during pregnancy and smoking during pregnancy.

Feeding an infant with a cleft lip and palate is extremely difficult. Because the roof of the mouth is open to the nose, the baby is unable to suck. The only way to feed is to squirt formula down the throat, which is extremely unpleasant. The baby swallows air, has difficulty swallowing, and can have failure to thrive. It is time consuming and very stressful for the new parents and baby.

Dr. Palmer has been caring for infants born with cleft lip and palate for over 28 years. She makes feeding obturators for these babies shortly after birth. This is an acrylic appliance that covers the palate and allows the baby to suck. The cleft is repaired in a series of surgeries that allow for normal growth and development of the baby’s face. Speech can be severely affected by a cleft palate. By covering the cleft early shortly after birth the baby learns more normal swallowing patterns which lead to more normal speech patterns.

Hearing can also be affected. Without using obturators, we believe the incidence of hearing loss may be greater. Most children with a cleft lip and palate are also missing a tooth in the line of the cleft. Due to advances in implant dentistry, this can often be restored with a single tooth implant. Other operations include plastic surgery on the nose and the soft palate. Dr. Palmer is one of the very few professionals in the area trained in Naso-alveolar molding. This is a technique of gradually molding the nose of a cleft infant to mirror the non-cleft side. Naso-alveolar molding allows the plastic surgeon to have a much better surgical result when repairing the cleft lip, allowing these babies to grow more normally. Link to cleft pictures