cleft palate Archives - Austin Dental Center

The initial thought of most parents upon seeing their newborn baby with a cleft lip or cleft palate is for cosmetic concern. However, experts want these individuals to recognize that these issues aren’t purely cosmetic in nature. Over time, the child can develop very serious feeding, speech, and even hearing problems.

Patients of cleft palate should have a close relationship with an Otolaryngologist (or an ear-nose-throat doctor). A team will likely be assembled as the child grows to also include dentists, cardiologists, ophthalmologists, neurosurgeons, endocrinologists, and more specialists, depending on the severity of the birth defect.

The condition is not uncommon, and these specialists are well equipped to deal with the issues specifically related to cleft palate, which affects one in six hundred newborns. In some cases, it is a mere notch in the upper lip, but in others, the issue is much larger and directly impacts the roof of the mouth.

Of course, the primary concern for specialists at the time of birth and as the patient ages is to ensure that there is a proper and uninterrupted airway. In many cases that airway can be restricted when the person rests, leading to sleep apnea. Treatment is essential as sleep apnea has been tied to an increased risk of stroke.

Patients with a cleft palate are more susceptible to sinusitis, laryngitis, and rhinitis. As mentioned above, hearing loss can become a major point of concern and would be progressive, gaining severity as the patient grew. Fortunately, there are many available surgeries today that can be used to successfully correct the birth defect. However, because of the breathing problems commonly seen in the patients, anesthesiologists must be extra careful to defend against complications during the operations.

Continue reading for more information on cleft lip and cleft palate.

In honor of National Cleft and Craniofacial Awareness and Prevention Month, Austin Dental Center would like to do our part in sharing information in support:

Receiving the news that your newborn has any type of birth defect can be horribly unnerving, yet a cleft palate is nothing to panic about nowadays. There is much that can be done to correct the issue and the child will be able to maintain a perfectly normal lifestyle thereafter.

However, there are real concerns that should be realized and addressed in order to prevent problems down the road.

A cleft palate, which is a result of the roof of the mouth not forming correctly during pregnancy, can cause complications in tooth development and placement for both baby and adult teeth.

The cleft, which generally affects the lateral incisors, can result in these teeth being absent, being doubled, or growing in the wrong location within the mouth. However, it is not just the lateral incisors that can be affected. This will likely mean an early trip to the dentist so an evaluation can be done to determine the health and position of incoming teeth.

Consult with your dentist immediately upon recognizing the problem, so he or she can give advice on future care. Typically, it will be recommended that children with clefts be seen for the first time by one year old and an orthodontic visit may be scheduled even earlier.

With proper cleaning, good nutrition and regular dental and orthodontic care, problems can generally be corrected, so the child will have full formed, well placed, healthy teeth. At times this may call for surgical intervention, but the decision should be made between you and your dental team.

To learn more about the possible procedures and special care needed for cleft patients, visit the full article.

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Dental Treatments for Your Child’s Cleft Palate

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