Best Cleft Lip & Palate Surgery | Safe Reconstructive Care

Cleft Lip & Palate

Cleft Lip affects the upper lip on one or both sides. There may be cleft of the palate in addition to cleft lip. These patients have suckling problem and some may have ear infection. If proper treatment is not given, these babies develop nasal voice and hearing impairment. This along with abnormal speech hinders the learning process. They drop out from school and fail to make friends. When these illiterate children grow up with this deformity, their prospect of getting a decent job or getting married becomes very thin. They become an outcast and a burden to the society.

Treatment is plastic surgery. Timing of surgery is very important. Cleft lip should be repaired at around 3 months of age; and cleft palate at around 12 months of age. If cleft palate is not operated in proper time, nasal voice become permanent. Cleft alveolus (defect of the upper gum) may also be present. This is repaired by bone grafting at around 6 or 7 years of age. Facial cleft are a different group of deformities which are much more rare. They can also be corrected by plastic surgery.