Cleft Lip and Palate
A cleft is a separation in a body's natural structure, usually formed before birth. Clefts that occur in the oral-facial region often involve the lip, the roof of the mouth or the soft tissue in the back of the mouth. Two major types of oral-facial clefts are cleft lip/palate and isolated cleft palate, which are congenital deformities caused by a failure in facial development during gestation.
A cleft lip or palate can be treated with surgery shortly after birth with highly successful results. Cleft lips or palates occur in somewhere between one in 600 and one in 800 births. The terms hare lip or hair lip are sometimes used colloquially to describe the condition because of the resemblance of a hare's lip. It is interesting to note that in Lun Heng, the first century AD Wang Chong said, "If a pregnant woman eats rabbit, the baby will have a cleft lip." The Chinese word for cleft lip is tuchun, literally harelip.
A microform cleft is a very minor cleft where no surgery is required to correct it. A microform cleft can appear as small as a little dent in the red part of the lip or look like a scar.
...More at Wikipedia
Related Links:
Cleft Lip and Palate
Questions recently asked by other users
Latest Cleft Palate News From Medical News Today.
- Alternate Pathway That Leads To Palate Development
- Alcohol Binges Early In Pregnancy Increase Risk Of Infant Oral Clefts
- California Legislature Takes Up Multiple Health Care Bills
- Research Findings Change The Way Doctors Perform Cleft Palate Surgery
- Gene For Branchio-Oculo-Facial Syndrome Discovered By Researchers
- Keynoters, Symposia, Workshops Highlight Dental Research Meeting
