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| Age 5-13 years | ||||||||||||
| Children with cleft palate
can have problems with their teeth due to a gap in the gum. The teeth may be crooked or
out of alignment. The orthodontist can help straighten the teeth using appliances. This
may be done after the age of 5-6 depending upon when certain teeth erupt. Once teeth are
in alignment, the best way to hold them is to fill the gap in the gum with bone grafting. Speech may also be problematic in spite of best efforts by the child and the speech pathologist. This may be corrected using an operation called Pharyngoplasty. This surger helps narrow the back of the throat to help a child make sounds correctly.
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| [ Back to Overview of Cleft Lip & Palate Management ] | ||||||||||||
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