Cleft Lip And Cleft Palate

Cleft lip and cleft palate are some of the most common birth defect. One in 700 newborns a year in the US and one in 600 in the UK are born with this defect.

A clef is a fissure or a split in the upper lip, the mouth roof (palate) or in some cases together.

Cleft lip can appear as a one side of the lip (unilateral) or both sides (bilateral). In many cases this defect can be an isolated birth defect but it might happen to come together with other genetic and environmental factors.

I am sure that if you will see a child with this defect you will be shock because of the disfiguration. Because the surgical techniques developed very much lately, cleft lip and cleft palate can be operated with very good results. The surgeons can give new features to any child who suffers from cleft lip.

Clef lip is more common to children from north Europe and Asia and less frequent to children from Africa. There are more risks that cleft lip to appear to boys than girls and reverse for cleft palate which can appear more among girls. There are some signs or symptoms of cleft lip and cleft palate? A child who suffers from cleft lip is identified at birth because he has an unusual appearance. This disease is characterized as a gap or an opening in the lip. There are some cases where the disease can aggravate because it can extend to the upper gum and palate.

Here there are some signs and symptoms of the cleft lip or cleft palate:

1. atypical appearance- the lip appearance it is very obvious deformed.

2. feeding problems- we all know that a newborn is feeding with milk but the one who suffer from cleft lip may have some problems because gathers too much air during feeding.

3. ear infection and hearing impairment- children with cleft lip develop a sticky fluid that can cause damage to their hearing. But after the surgery this problem is removed.

4. speech and language problems- the children an not speck clear.

5. dental health- a cleft lip and palate are influencing the teeth growing and tooth decay. This problem can be resolved with orthodontic treatment.

Cleft and lip palate begins between the fifth and twelfth week of pregnancy. In this time the bone ad the tissue of the skull should develop and fuse together and form one single piece. But in children with cleft situation lip this fusion is not complete and remains a gap. The disease is very simple detected with a simple ultrasound examination made by your doctor between 18 to 20 weeks of pregnancy.Studies showed us that the most important risk that can develop cleft lip or palate is a genetic one. But there are some environmental risks as well. Some of these are:

1. maternal smoking – if you are smoking during your pregnancy you will double your chances to have a child with cleft lip.

2. maternal alcohol consumption – if you drink too much you will increase your chances as well.

3. maternal obesity – your weight is an important factor too.

4. absence of folic acid during pregnancy – a pregnant woman should take daily a quantity of folic acid and if she doesn’t take it she might gave birth to a child with cleft lip.

It is better if the cleft lip or palate is operated when the child have between three to twelve months. The process will continue until he or she is 18 years old. During this time the child is going through many steps until he is healed. Some of these are: language therapy, dentists, hearing experts, orthodontists.

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