What is Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate?
Cleft lip and cleft palate are birth defects that occur when a baby’s lip or mouth do not form properly during pregnancy. Together, these birth defects commonly are called “orofacial clefts”
What is Cleft Lip?
A cleft lip is a physical separation of the two sides of the upper lip, and appears as a narrow or wide opening or gap in all layers of the upper lip. This separation can include the gum line or the palate
What is Cleft Palate?
- A cleft palate is a split or opening in the roof of the mouth. A cleft palate can involve the hard palate (the bony front portion of the roof of the mouth) and/or the soft palate (the soft back portion of the roof of the mouth), and can be associated with a cleft lip.
What is Facial Cleft?
- A facial cleft is an opening or gap in the face, or a malformation of a part of the face. Facial clefts are a collective term for all sorts of clefts. All structures like bone, soft tissue, skin etc. can be affected. Facial clefts are extremely rare congenital anomalies. There are many variations of a type of clefting and classifications are needed to describe and classify all types of clefting,thus making comprehensive treatment planning more easier.
Can Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate be fixed?
Various types (Classification) of Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate
How many types of Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate are there?
- Cleft lip and cleft palate are among the most common birth defects. Cleft lip and cleft palate can occur on one or both sides of the mouth. Because the lip and the palate develop separately, it is possible to have a cleft lip without a cleft palate, a cleft palate without a cleft lip, or both a cleft lip and cleft palate together (the most frequently occurring defect).
- Clefts are described based on the structures involved (lip, alveolus, hard palate, soft palate), laterality (unilateral left, unilateral right, or bilateral), and severity (width and extent of structures involved). Clefts can be isolated (cleft lip only or cleft palate only), or they can occur in combination. They can be unilateral or bilateral, and they can be complete or incomplete.
What is Submucous Cleft Palate?
- Infrequently, a minor case of cleft soft palate or submucous cleft palate will not even be seen at birth and will become noticeable later when the infant experiences difficulty feeding. Sometimes, other tests may be conducted to learn if there are any other abnormalities. Less commonly, a cleft occurs only in the muscles of the soft palate (submucous cleft palate), which are at the back of the mouth and covered by the mouth’s lining. This type of cleft often goes unnoticed at birth and may not be diagnosed until later when signs develop. Signs and symptoms of submucous cleft palate may include:
- Difficulty with feeding,
- Difficulty swallowing, with potential for liquids or foods to come out the nose, Nasal speaking voice, Chronic ear infections
How Many Babies are Born with Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate?
- Incidence of clefts in India is around 1:800–1:1000, and is the fourth most common birth defect. The birth prevalence of clefts is somewhere between 27,000 and 33,000 clefts per year, which means 78 affected infants are born every day, or 3 infants with clefts born every hour. Twice as many boys as girls have a cleft lip, both with and without a cleft palate. However, twice as many girls as boys have cleft palate without a cleft lip.
- The typical distribution of cleft types are:
- Cleft lip alone – 15%
- Cleft lip and palate – 45%
- Isolated cleft palate – 40%.