Cleft

Differences Between Cleft Palate & Cleft Lip

About 4,800 babies are born each year in the United States with clefts and no other birth defects, according to the March of Dimes. Most of these children are born with cleft lips along with cleft palates. Children with cleft palates without cleft...

A Cleft Palate & Harelip

A cleft palate and harelip are two birth defects that can occur together. A cleft palate affects the roof of the mouth, leaving an opening in the palate. Patients with a harelip have a gap in the lip. The Merriam-Webster dictionary notes that...

What Are the Causes of Cleft Palates?

According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, cleft lip and cleft palate is the most common congenital deformity, affecting 1 out of every 700 children born each year. (Reference 1) Cleft lip and cleft palate abnormalities occur...

About Cleft Lip & Palate

The head and face of a developing fetus form early in pregnancy at the intersection of several separate sections of tissues. In order for the face to form normally, the tissues must fuse when they come together. If the tissues that form the head...

A Cleft Lip or Palate

A cleft lip or palate is one of the most common birth defects in the United States. Fortunately, a variety of early interventions are available to treat the child with cleft lip or palate. From surgeries to different therapies, treatments are...

What Is Cleft Lip Palate?

Cleft lip and palate is a birth defect in which there is an opening in the lip and palate (roof of the mouth).

Cleft Lip & Palate Symptoms

As a baby develops, the lip and palate grow together and fuse in the middle. This fusion forms the roof of the mouth and the upper lip. When the area does not close correctly, a cleft lip or a cleft palate occurs. Some children have a cleft lip or...

How to Breastfeed an Infant With a Cleft Palate

Cleft palate is the fourth most common birth defect in the United States, according to the American Pregnancy Association. Cleft palate can affect just the soft palate, or the top of the mouth at the back of the throat, or the hard palate, which...

Causes of Cleft Palate & Lip

Cleft lip and palate is a birth defect in which, during development of the embryo, the roof of the mouth, also called the palate, and the lip do not fuse together properly. Facial clefting is one of the most common birth defects and occurs once in...

Causes of Cleft Palate and Lip

Cleft palate and cleft lip occur when the tissue of the palate and lip do not fully develop in the fetus. Specifically, when the tissue does not fuse, it results in an opening in the roof of the mouth and nasal cavity, notes KidsHealth. A cleft...

What Are the Causes of Cleft Lip & Palate?

A type of birth defect, cleft lip and palate affect one in every 700 babies born each year in the United States, according to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. MedlinePlus adds that one in 2,500 people have a cleft palate, which...

Exercises for Cleft Palate Patients

Cleft palate is a cosmetic and functional challenge for victims and their families. Depending on severity, it could occur alone or as part of a more extensive defect involving lip and nasal defects. Surgery corrects the appearance problem in cleft...

Cleft Palates & Possible Diseases

Cleft palate is a birth defect that occurs when, during embryonic development, the roof of the mouth---called the palate---does not close properly. Often, the upper lip is also clefted. In most cases, a cleft palate with or without cleft lip is...

Maternal Nutrition & Cleft Lip & Palate

Cleft lip and cleft palate are two birth defects that affect the face. Medline Plus notes that 1 in every 2,500 people have a cleft palate, in which the roof of the mouth does not join together during development. In a cleft lip, an opening in the...

Genetic Causes of Cleft Lip & Palate

Cleft lip and cleft palate is a highly common congenital deformity occurring in about 1 in 700 live births. This congenital deformity occurs early in gestation at about 5 weeks. The formation of a cleft lip and cleft palate is the result of a...

3 Ways to Treat a Cleft Lip

Treating a cleft lip involves more than simply repairing the divide in the lip, but that is the first step. Because cleft lip is a birth defect, the need for surgery will be immediately apparent when a child is born. Reconstruction--or surgery to...

3 Ways to Treat a Cleft Palate

A baby born with a cleft palate, or malformed soft tissue at the roof of the mouth, will likely have trouble breastfeeding, nursing from a bottle and eating properly. When this mouth tissue doesn't grow together normally, it leaves a gap that can...

5 Things You Need to Know About Cleft Palates

Approximately 1 in 600 to 1 in 1,000 U.S. children are born with oral-facial clefts annually. Children with this defect have an opening in the lip, the roof of the mouth or in both locations. These openings occur during fetal development. All...

Drugs That Cause Cleft Lip & Palate

A cleft lip and palate is a birth defect that occurs when the facial structures of the fetus do not close completely. This typically occurs between the sixth and tenth week of the pregnancy, according to KidsHealth.org. This birth defect can be...

The Long-Term Complications of a Cleft Lip Palate

A cleft lip and palate is a birth defect that affects the structure of patients' mouths. With a cleft lip, patients have a split in their lips that can extend up to the nostril. A cleft palate affects the roof of the mouth. MedlinePlus explains...

Folic Acid to Prevent a Cleft Palate

A cleft palate occurs whenever the soft and sometimes hard palates in the roof of the mouth do not close properly. As a baby grows and develops in the womb, these structures may not form properly and may also extend to the lip causing both a cleft...

Chromosomal Errors That Cause Cleft Lip or Palate

Cleft lip and cleft palate are congenital deformities that result in the palate or the lip or both not coming together to fuse in the middle during the fetal formation of facial structures. This occurs early in gestation, as the structures begin...

Decreased Folic Acid Leading to Cleft Lip in Babies

In the United States, approximately one in every 750 babies are born with cleft lip and/or palate, according to the National Institutes of Health. Cleft lip is a birth defect that occurs when there is an incomplete closure of tissue around the...

3 Ways to Identify Pierre Robin Syndrome

Pierre Robin syndrome is a birth defect that affects as many as 1 in 8,500 newborns. The main characteristics of this condition are facial malformations. If your baby has Pierre Robin syndrome, he will have a small, underdeveloped jaw...

What Are Some Inherited Traits?

Inherited traits are physical characteristics determined by DNA. These characteristics are genetically passed down from your mother or father to you. When the DNA from parents combines, a child inherits both dominant and recessive genes that...

3 Ways to Manage Pierre Robin Syndrome

Since babies with Pierre Robin syndrome almost always have cleft palates, it's important for parents to learn how to feed them correctly. In most cases, the nurses in the neonatal intensive care unit will demonstrate the correct feeding techniques...

What Are the Risks of Smoking When Pregnant?

Smoking and pregnancy should not mix. Unfortunately, at least 10 percent of women smoke while pregnant, according to a 2006 study published in "National Vital Statistics Reports." A baby exposed to smoke in utero is at risk for many different...

English Willow Cricket

English willow is to cricket what pigskin is to football. English willow trees are used to make the best cricket bats in the world. The willow trees that are cultivated for cricket bats are usually are 15 to 20 years old, and trees from Essex...

The Effects of Folic Acid in the Development of the Fetus

Folic acid, also known as folate and vitamin B9 is involved in several bodily functions including the synthesis of DNA and is therefore very important during growth. Initially in pregnant women, blood levels of folate decrease because of the rapid...

Cleft Lip and Palate Health Video (Video)

A cleft is an opening or split in the upper lip, the palate or roof of the mouth or possibly in both. Learn about cleft lift and palette symptoms, treatments and diagnosis in this video on health and diseases.

Beginners Guide to Plastic Surgery (Video)

Plastic surgery can be used for reconstructive or cosmetic reasons. There are many different kinds of plastic surgery that can be performed. Learn about plastic surgery considerations in this video.