Cleft lip and cleft palate

You widen your lips and smile and this facial expression resonates happiness across miles but what if you cannot really smile-like in the case of a cleft lip or cleft palate? It would be really disheartening! But not any more for cleft lip and cleft palate can be easily corrected by expert ENT doctors.

Nearly 35,000 children in India are born with a cleft lip or cleft palate. But this birth defect is upsetting but easily curable. All you need is to visit a good ENT hospital and within 45 minutes of simple surgery, the baby can smile happily again.

What are cleft lip and cleft palate?

Cleft lip and cleft palate are facial deformities that are manifested as a split or opening in the upper lip or on the roof of the mouth. These are congenital anomalies that are present at childbirth as the facial structures of the unborn baby do not close properly. These birth defects are manifested as the following symptoms-

• Partial Cleft Lip - a small split in the lip that appears as only a small cut in the lip
• Complete Cleft Lip - if the cut extends from the lip through the upper gum and plate till the bottom of the nose
• Unilateral Cleft Lip - if the cleft occurs only on one side
• Bilateral Cleft Lip - if the cleft occurs on both sides.
• Cleft palate - a small notch in the roof of the mouth that does not affect the appearance of the face.
• Submucous cleft palate - this rare cleft is seen in the soft muscles of the mouth palate  present at the back of the mouth and is covered by the mouth's lining. It goes unnoticed at birth and is identified only when signs develop.
• The cleft lip or cleft palate may or may not affect the appearance of the face. But it may cause many speech problems or ear infections.

Problems that arise due to the presence of a cleft lip or cleft palate

• Speech problems - Incoherent speech is the outcome of a cleft lip. This is because when we speak, we use the tongue, lips and palate to form the words and a cut in either of these mouth parts affects the speech causing a lisp or hissing sound and speech errors. All these speech problems can be overcome with speech therapy.
• Dental problems - Children with cleft lip or cleft palate often suffer from dental problems like tooth decay as the alveolar ridge supporting the teeth and gums is affected.
• Hearing problems - Cleft palate may cause the build-up of fluid in the middle ear. This middle ear effusion may even lead to hearing loss.
• Throat infections - Due to the entry of polluted air into the throat through the cleft lip or palate, children suffering from these birth defects are more prone to throat infections.
• Feeding difficulties
• Psychological problems like low self-esteem.

Causes of cleft lip and cleft palate

The skull of the foetus develops during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy when the frontonasal, mandibular and maxillary tissue lobes fuse together to form the skull. If this fusion is not completed due to genetic or environmental factors, cleft in the lip or palate occurs. There is a greater risk of a cleft lip or cleft palate if

• Cleft history prevails in the family
• Tobacco, alcohol or epilepsy medication is taken by the pregnant mother.
• If the pregnant mother has diabetes.
• If the pregnant mother is obese.

Cleft lip or cleft palate treatment and surgery by ENT doctors has now lighted up the smiles of millions of children around the world. Head to the right ENT hospital for an immediate cleft cure and watch your children smile happily ever after.