The common problems that are faced by cleft children and their parents are related to appearance, nutrition and speech. As the child grows up, multiple surgeries are required to be performed to restore good health and appearance and for the child to lead a normal life.
|
Age |
Treatment |
Rationale |
|
At birth |
Feeding Plate |
Sucking milk |
|
2-3 months |
Lip repair |
Feeding and appearance |
|
9-11 months |
Palate repair |
Sealing the communication gap between the mouth and nose to enhance feeding & speech |
|
3 years + |
Pharyngoplasty (if needed) |
Correction of nasal sounding speech (by preventing escape of air through the nose ) |
|
Speech Therapy |
Improving pronunciation |
|
|
3 years |
Premaxillary setback (in case of bilateral cleft) |
Creation of labial vestibule (space between lips and upper front teeth), speech and esthetics |
|
3 years |
Cleft alveolar bone closure using BMP
OR |
Closing alveolar cleft and enabling normal teeth eruption |
|
7 years |
Cleft alveolar bone closure with bone grafting |
Closing alveolar cleft and enabling normal teeth eruption |
|
13 years |
Cleft orthodontics (correction of malaligned teeth) |
Normal positioning of teeth |
|
14-16 years |
Rhinoplasty (nose correction) |
Esthetics |
|
Depending upon the severity of the cleft, these procedures may be performed |
Distraction Osteogenesis |
Upper jaw advancement |
|
Orthognathic Surgery (jaw correction surgery) |
Esthetics |
|
|
Secondary Corrections |
Esthetics |