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ANATOMY OF CLEFT LIP AND PALATE

What is a cleft?
Cleft lip is a separation of one or of both sides of the upper lip and, quite often, of the dental ridge as well. When the cleft occurs on one side of the lip one refers to it as a unilateral cleft, whereas when it occurs on both sides it is called a bilateral cleft.
If the cleft separates the lip completely it is a complete cleft. If it separates only part of the height of the lip the cleft is incomplete.

                                 

Incomplete unilateral cleft             Complete unilateral cleft     

                                

Incomplete bilateral cleft                Complete bilateral cleft

A cleft of the palate is an opening of the roof of the mouth which may affect only the soft palate (the muscles of the palate), or it may extend further to the front and separate the bones of the palate as well. Cleft palate may occur with or without cleft lip. When it occurs alone, it is in the midline, whereas when it occurs in combination with a cleft of the lip and gum ridge, it is usually (but not invariably) on the side of the cleft lip.
A cleft of the lip affects the appearance of the nose, causing the nasal tip to be flatter and lower on the side of the cleft.

The nasal deformity is much more pronounced in cases of complete bilateral clefts of the lip and palate. The middle part of the lip called the prolabium along with the central part of the upper jaw, called the premaxilla, form a structure, which, suspended by a short columella (the part of the nose between the nostrils joining the tip of the nose to the lip) from the nasal tip, projects forward.
These seemingly very difficult problems can be corrected through surgery with a very satisfactory outcome.

 

 

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