Symposium on the Early Treatment of the Cleft Lip and Palate: The Present Dilemma

Abstract

Early treatment of the cleft lip and palate infant poses a number of problems. Analysis of the success of pre-surgical treatment has been difficult due to a lack of adequate records of a large number of variables applied to a statistically small sample, with a lapse of many years being required before assessment can be made. Active pre-surgical appliances frequently cause ulceration in the mouth and nasal septum, but this can be minimized following design modification. Several methods are in current use for alignment of the segments, including appliances which expand the segments and others which introduce a curvature into the greater segment or retain the arch while still allowing it to grow mesially and distally. The dilemma today is no longer whether to give pre-surgical treatment, but to what extent it should be carried out.