Cleft Research Paper

There are many forms of a cleft lip, which is a split in parts of the oral cavity that originates in the womb during early pregnancy. The split may be in the lip alone, both the lip and palate, or in the lip, jaw, and palate, and sometimes only in the palate. Clefts may also contain either a single or double split. Each cleft has different characteristics in every child born with this malformation. Clefts may pose different problems that involve feeding difficulties, speech development, and sometimes ear infections. Several procedures and techniques are performed in order to repair and close facial-oral clefts. Repairing the cleft involves working closely with a dentist, plastic surgeon, orthodontist, social worker, and speech therapist for numerous years. Several different cases and corrective procedures of oral-facial clefts were presented in the video Children with Cleft Lip and Palate. For instance, incisions are made underneath the nostrils of patients with cleft lips in order to align the red of the lip for proper repair. This allows for the palate split in patients with both a cleft lip and palate to slightly close once the alignment has been sutured. One patient had a …show more content…
Many parents become uneasy after discovering their newborn has developed this malformation. Some are even ashamed and attempt to hide the deformity from others in fear of receiving a negative reaction. Others blame themselves and wonder what they did wrong during pregnancy to cause the cleft. Older patients who received surgery during infancy remembered the emotional effects of having a cleft lip and of having the procedures performed. Many were teased because of the way they looked. Others were not happy with their own appearance and wanted to look like everyone else. The children were frightened but understood the surgeries had to be done in order to look like