Cleft Lip and Palate Clinic

Understanding Cleft Lip and Palate:

Cleft Lip and Palate means a hole in the lip or palate due to lack of development of speech organs before birth. These are common oral- facial problems since birth that often affect speech, hearing, feeding and physical appearance.

Symptoms :

1. Feeding problems, Unable to Suck and blow, Food comes out through nose.
2. Milk teeth and permanent teeth may be missing or placed wrongly.
3. Frequent ear pain, ear discharge (Otitis Media) and reduced hearing ability.
4. Delayed speech and language problems.
5. Air escapes through the nose due to the presence of the cleft.
6. Speech sound errors– Deletion, addition, distortion and substitution errors.
7. Airway obstruction.

Prognosis:

Margdarsi deals with cleft lip & palate patients as a team, which includes:

Pediatrician, Plastic surgeon, Orthodontist/ prosthodontist, ENT specialist.

Speech Language Pathologist, Audiologist, Psychologist, Special Educator, Integration therapist.

Family and social support.

Treatment:

1. At Margdarsi we have separate dedicated facilities for children with cleft lip and palate.
2. We have established client centred process of post surgical rehabilitation which involves a client and his/her parent or caregiver as part of the rehabilitation process.
1. Speech and language therapy.
2. Oro motor exercises.
3. Feeding therapy- Infant should be fed in the slightly upright position.
4. After feeding, mouth needs to be cleaned and rinsed with water. Use of special feeding devices.
5. Educational Therapy.
6. Dentist- Provide suitable dental prosthesis and treat the dental carries.
7. Recreational Therapy: Art, Craft, Dance, Music.
8. Prosthesis Intervention.
9. Parent training: Training the importance of speech & language stimulation.
3. Our interventions vary depending on the nature and extent of the disability. We provide the least restrictive environment to a child for appropriate results.