Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate

Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “cleft lip and cleft palate are birth defects that occur when a baby’s lip or mouth do not form properly. These birth defects happen early during pregnancy. A baby can have a cleft lip, a cleft palate, or both”.

Cleft lip

Occurs when the tissue that forms the lip does not completely join, before a baby is born, causing there to be either a large opening or small slit in the baby’s upper lip which can be on one, both sides, or middle of the lip ("Birth defects," 2012).

Cleft palate

Occurs when the palate, tissue that makes up the roof of the mouth, does not fully close leaving part of the palate in the front or back open and sometimes both the front and back remain open ("Birth defects," 2012).

http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/birthdefects/CleftLip.html

Symptoms

The symptoms that result from a cleft lip or cleft palate are able to be identified as soon as a baby is born and according to the Mayo Clinic staff symptoms include:

“A split in the lip that can appear as only a small notch in the lip or can extend from the lip through the upper gum and palate into the bottom of the nose” ("Mayo clinic," 2011).

“A split in the lip and roof of the mouth (palate) that can affect one or both sides of the face” ("Mayo clinic," 2011).

“A split in the roof of the mouth (palate) that doesn’t affect the appearance of the face” ("Mayo clinic," 2011).

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cleft-palate/DS00738/DSECTION=symptoms

Causes of disorder

According to CDC, the causes of cleft lip and cleft palate are unknown in most infants. However, they have found that smoking and diabetes increase the risk of having a baby with orofacial clefts.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/birthdefects/CleftLip.html

Treatment

Cleft lip and cleft palate are treatable by surgery depending on the severity of the condition. According to CDC, “surgery to repair a cleft lip usually occurs in the first few months...