Parents may be under the impression that intervention for this birth condition stops at repairing the cleft lip or palate. However, in reality, a cleft lip can affect the development and eruption of teeth, while a cleft palate can affect the shape and width of the jaws. This means that children with cleft palate often need a series of coordinated interventions throughout childhood. Depending on your child’s needs, this may involve braces, expanders, or other appliances to address issues caused by the cleft lip or palate.
The Orthodontists Associates of Western New York team includes Drs. Steven J. Hietanen and Andrew J. Dusel, who have extensive experience working in tandem with cleft palate surgeons and other specialists.
What Is Craniofacial Orthodontics? Learn Its Role in Cleft Palate Repair
Craniofacial orthodontics
can play a significant role in the care of cleft lip and palate throughout a child’s life. But most patients don’t hear the term until their child needs treatment for a cleft lip or palate. Craniofacial orthodontics specifically refers to orthodontic treatment used in cleft palate repair. These treatments may help correct tooth position, bite, and jaw growth in coordination with surgical repairs as your child grows. A cleft that occurs in the lip or palate can affect the nearby tooth position. Teeth may also be missing, malformed, or misaligned. Cleft palate, in particular, tends to have a bigger effect on the upper jaw and roof of the mouth. In some cases, this may require bone grafting and coordination with jaw-shaping orthodontic treatment.
As craniofacial orthodontists, we use braces and other orthodontic appliances in coordination with personalized, team-based planning. The goal is to account for all of the ways a cleft lip has affected the smile. Drs. Hietanen & Dusel regularly coordinate treatment with plastic surgeons to repair cleft lip and palate in stages throughout a child’s life.
How Braces & Other Orthodontic Tools Support Patients With Cleft Lip
Braces support cleft lip treatment by correcting the alignment of crooked or crowded teeth. In addition, they may make space for teeth that are congenitally missing near the site of the cleft. Depending on the child’s structure, we may recommend early appliances or prosthetic teeth to maintain space for missing teeth and to improve how the bite comes together. Later, an experienced oral surgeon can replace missing teeth with a realistic false tooth to improve alignment, should the patient want a permanent solution down the line.
Sometimes, patients struggle with a narrower jaw due to a cleft palate. In these cases, we might use other orthodontic tools, like expanders, to open the palate and improve the bite. This may help prepare the upper arch before bone grafting is performed to rebuild the alveolar cleft in the upper gum area. Correcting a cleft palate may require a more complex, staged approach to an intervention. However, treatment can successfully address issues that a cleft palate can cause and set your child up for healthy development.
Cleft lip and palate repair is often more complicated than parents initially realize. However, comprehensive, effective treatment is available. Western New York is home to the Craniofacial Center at the Golisano Children’s Hospital of Buffalo. Drs. Hietanen and Dusel work tirelessly to apply our practice’s commitment to early intervention to each cleft palate case they support.
Learn More at a Free Consultation
Cleft lip treatment occurs in phases. Sometimes, based on your child’s needs, braces and other orthodontic tools are a key part of that. When our orthodontists see how your child’s teeth and jaws have been affected by a cleft lip, we can coordinate with a team of specialists to help guide the growth and alignment of your child’s jaws and teeth.
At the Orthodontists Associates of Western New York, patient education is so important to us that we never charge until we start treatment. It costs nothing to explore how braces can help your child’s cleft lip treatment. Schedule a free consultation today at one of our seven locations across Western New York.
