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What is best treatment for cleft lip?
A cleft is usually treated with surgery. Other treatments, such as speech therapy and dental care, may also be needed. Your child will be cared for by a specialist cleft team at an NHS cleft centre.
At what age should cleft lip be repaired?
The cleft lip usually is corrected early in a child’s life, between 3 to 6 months of age, but sometimes later. Cleft lip surgery will correct the cleft and usually will leave minimal scarring. Virtually every child born with a cleft lip is able to lead a healthy, happy life once the cleft has been repaired.
Can you survive with a cleft lip?
Children with repairable anomalies such as cleft lip and palate are often presumed to have normal health and survival in adulthood.
How do they fix a cleft lip?
The most common type of cleft lip repair is a rotation advancement repair. The plastic surgeon will make an incision on each side of the cleft from the lip to the nostril. The two sides of the lip are then sutured together, using tissue from the area to rearrange and close the lip as needed.
What foods cause cleft lip?
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Pregnant women who eat a meat-rich, fruit-poor diet may be doubling their baby’s likelihood of being born with a cleft lip or cleft palate, Dutch researchers report.
Can cleft lip scar be removed?
Surgery under general anesthesia is often required to close the opening caused by a cleft lip or palate. During the surgery, a plastic surgeon will make minimal incisions on the outer edges of the separated tissues and sew the lip together. Small, dissolvable stitches are commonly used to reduce visible scarring.
Can cleft lip scars be removed?
How much does it cost to fix a cleft lip?
Typical costs: Without health insurance, cleft lip and/or palate surgery typically costs $5,000 to $10,000 or more per surgery; if the child has both a cleft lip and a cleft palate, two surgeries typically are required for a total of $10,000 to $20,000.
Why does cleft lip cause death?
One child each from the cleft lip and the cleft lip and palate groups died. Of the children who died, 21 (91%) had other structural abnormalities. Of these children, 19 (83%) died before their first birthday. The causes of death were mainly due to associated congenital anomalies (61%) and infection (17%).
How do you close a cleft lip?
The only way to repair a cleft palate is by surgery. The goal is to close the opening in the roof of the child’s mouth. Your child will be in the operating room for only a few hours. The hospital stay is usually 1 to 3 days.
Why does a cleft lip happen?
Cleft lip and cleft palate occur when tissues in the baby’s face and mouth don’t fuse properly. Normally, the tissues that make up the lip and palate fuse together in the second and third months of pregnancy.
Is a cleft lip genetic?
The causes of cleft lip and cleft palate (or both) are unknown, although hereditary (genetic) factors sometimes play a small role. A cleft lip or cleft palate (or both) is not caused by anything the parents did or did not do during the pregnancy.