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Evaluation and Diagnosis
A cleft lip and/or palate is a congenital birth defect, which affects feeding, hearing, speech, dentition (teeth), and facial appearance. Growth and development of oral-facial structures requires ongoing care from infancy to adulthood to monitor and determine timing for needed interventions including speech therapy, surgeries, and dental treatment.
Once a patient is referred to the team, he or she will be evaluated by each of the specialists during the initial cleft lip/palate clinic evaluation. With a team evaluation, each child benefits from the knowledge of many subspecialists. These specialists come together to form a comprehensive treatment plan.