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Saving Just a moment, please. You've saved this page It's been added to your dashboard. In This Topic. What are cleft lip and cleft palate?
These things may increase your chances of having a baby with cleft lip or palate:. Family history of cleft lip and cleft palate. Larger text size Large text size Regular text size. What Is a Cleft Palate? The opening can: just be in the back of the palate the soft palate or extend into the front of the palate behind the gums the hard palate Sometimes the opening in the palate can connect with an opening in the gums and the lip cleft lip and palate.
A baby with a cleft might have: only a cleft palate only a cleft lip both a cleft lip and a cleft palate. What Causes Cleft Palate? How Is a Cleft Palate Treated? The goals of palatoplasty are to: Close the opening between the nose and mouth. Help create a palate that works well for speech.
Prevent food and liquid from leaking out of the nose. In this surgery, a plastic surgeon will: Close the cleft in layers. Rearrange and repair the muscles of the soft palate so they work better during speech. Make two incisions cuts on each side of the palate behind the gums to ease tension on the palate repair.
Many children have both a cleft lip and a cleft palate. If the defect only occurs on one side, it is called unilateral. If it involves both sides, the cleft lip and cleft palate is bilateral.
Because cleft lip and cleft palate can vary widely in severity from child to child, treatment options also encompass a broad spectrum. A baby with a very minor, unilateral cleft lip, for example, might only need one procedure, while an infant with a more involved cleft that runs through both sides of his palate may require many different interventions throughout their life into the teenage years or early adulthood. In fact, thanks to recent advances in diagnostics and care, treatment can often shortly after birth.
However, no one knows exactly why these disruptions take place. It is believed that cleft lip and cleft palate may be genetic conditions resulting from an error in the genes. Some children with cleft lip and cleft palate have other family members with the defect, but in most cases, there is no evidence of any family history.
Scientists believe that some instances of cleft lip and cleft palate may happen because of something that affected the mother during pregnancy, including:. Nearly all babies with cleft lip and cleft palate are diagnosed at birth or even before, through prenatal ultrasound because the defects are readily apparent.
The first sign of a problem in these babies is usually difficulty feeding an inability to latch on to the breast or bottle nipple, or to use consistent suction while nursing.
At the moment, there is no known way to prevent cleft lip and cleft palate; in order to understand how to prevent these defects, we would first need to understand how and why they occur. Researchers are hard at work on uncovering new insights, but have found no proven cause as of yet. Some theories suggest that certain steps might contribute to preventing cleft lip and cleft palate, namely:. The lip, nose and palate can all be involved to varying degrees.
The major types of cleft lip are:. Most cleft lips are closed before 6 months of age. Several factors may increase the likelihood of a baby developing a cleft lip and cleft palate, including:. Males are more likely to have a cleft lip with or without cleft palate. Cleft palate without cleft lip is more common in females. In the United States, cleft lip and palate are reportedly most common in Native Americans and least common in African-Americans. Children with cleft lip with or without cleft palate face a variety of challenges, depending on the type and severity of the cleft.
After a baby is born with a cleft, parents are understandably concerned about the possibility of having another child with the same condition. While many cases of cleft lip and cleft palate can't be prevented, consider these steps to increase your understanding or lower your risk:.
Cleft lip and cleft palate care at Mayo Clinic. Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products. Advertising revenue supports our not-for-profit mission.
This content does not have an English version. This content does not have an Arabic version. Overview Cleft lip Open pop-up dialog box Close.
Cleft lip A cleft lip is an opening or split in the upper lip that occurs when developing facial structures in an unborn baby don't close completely. Cleft palate Open pop-up dialog box Close. Cleft palate A cleft palate is an opening or split in the roof of the mouth that occurs when the tissue doesn't fuse together during development in the womb. Request an Appointment at Mayo Clinic.
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