This research paper presents an overview of cleft palate. Included is a definition and prevalence, associated risks and malformations, etiology, and surgical outcomes.
Cleft palate, a common defect of the face, is an malformed passageway through the roof of the mouth connecting to the airway of the nose. This differs from the cleft lip, which is an incomplete joining of the upper lip, below the nose. The cleft lip and cleft palate tend to occur together. With a cleft lip, the infant cannot close the lips around a nipple and a cleft palate hinders eating and speech efforts. Cleft palate is found in around one out of every 1,800 births, it occurs with cleft lip in approximately one out of every 600 to 700 births (cleft lip alone is found in around one of every 1,000 births). A dental device is used to temporarily seal the mouth roof, and both defects can be permanently corrected with surgery (Merck Manual, 2000).
Children with cleft palate and cleft lip (CLP) are found to be at risk for hearing, speech, language, academic, and social difficulties. Language delays interfere with the child's communication skills which can lead to behavioral problems and intellectual delays. Middle-ear effusion is found in most cases which can lead to hearing loss, also effecting learning abilities. Previous studies have focused on older children and adults (Jocelyn, Penko, & Rode, 1996, pp. 529-533).
Jocelyn et al. studied 16 normal children and 16 CLP children, ages one and two, and found that CLP children had lower scores on cognition, language comprehension, and language expression. They were also found to have more middle-ear disease and hearing loss. Hearing ability was correlated with language comprehension and expression.
Milerad, Larson, Hagberg, and Ideberg (1997) studied infants with both cleft lip and palate (only those with true clefts were included; submucous clefts were not included). They found that 21% of the 616 inf...