Cleft Lip And Palate Research Paper

A cleft lip and palate occur when the lip or palate, the roof of the mouth, do not develop correctly during pregnancy. The first article I will discuss is written by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, they talk about how, why, and who a cleft lip or palate occurs in. The second article is from the ASHA, American Speech-Language and Hearing Association, this article talks about how cleft lip and palate effect speech development. The third and final article is a journal written by Avinash Sousa, Shibani Devare, and Jyoti Ghanshani it talks about the psychological and social effects on children with cleft lip and palate. It is important for people to know and understand clefts, the CDC says that about 6,800 children per year in the

“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.” As we also discussed in the lecture, the lip forms between the fourth and seventh week of pregnancy a cleft, or opening in the lip, happens when the tissues that make up the lip do not join completely together before birth. “Children with a cleft lip with or without a cleft palate or a cleft palate alone often have problems with feeding and speaking clearly, and can have ear infections. They also might have hearing problems and problems with their teeth” (Facts about Cleft Lip and Palate). The palate forms between the sixth and ninth weeks of pregnancy, we learned in the lecture that the roof of the mouth forms from the front to the back of the mouth so cleft palate occurs when the palate doesn’t or only partially forms before birth. Causes of clefs are mostly unknown but the CDC found that smoking, having diabetes before getting pregnant, and use of medicines that treat epilepsy used in the first trimester are all things that increase the chances of your child having a cleft. The treatment for cleft lip and palate is surgery to repair and bring together the tissue. Surgery to repair the lip is usually recommended within the

The third and final article I will talk about was written by three psychologists and it explains the challenges that children with clefts face. As we discussed during the lecture one of the biggest thing that effects a child with a cleft is their appearance. Because of the scars that are left behind after surgery most children with cleft lip have a less attractive facial appearance and speech than their peers. The psychologist conducted a self report study to “determine the psychological functioning related to cleft lip and palate” the participants that had more behavioral problems reported to be teased more often and less happy with their appearance, there is a high incidence of teasing over facial appearance reported of kids with clefts, this likely leads to the decreased self confidence. “Research shows that a high percentage of cleft children are underachievers along with the evidence of behavioral inhibition, concern regarding appearance, and decreased expectations by teachers and parents.” Parents are a big part of a childs self confidence and self worth, unfortunately parents may sometimes be more tolerant of misbehavior and more likely to spoil their child while being overprotective. Parents are often the once with the least satisfaction in the outcome of surgery, in one study done only