Children born with a cleft lip and palate (CL/P) require the care of many medical and dental specialists. We provide orthodontics care to cleft lip/palate syndrome patients as part of their overall reconstructive procedures.

Children with cleft lip/palate syndrome usually visit the orthodontist before they reach age 10 and continue orthodontics treatment until mid-to-late teens.

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When should my child start treatment?

Cleft lip and palate patients have problems with teeth and their jaws not lining up properly. Since children are growing, we like to see CL/P kids around age 7-8 years old.

This gives us an opportunity to begin aligning the jaws and creating enough space for all of the adult teeth to come in.

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What other treatment will my child require?

Because cleft lip/palate syndrome is a complex condition, these kids require a team of medical and dental specialists to address all of their issues.

As orthodontists, we work closely with the surgeons to correct the cleft in the upper lip and jaw. The first phase of orthodontic treatment addresses the upper jaw’s width and it position relative to the lower jaw prior to the bone graft surgery.

When ready, the surgeon will fill in the bone cleft and, after healing from the surgery, your child will continue with their orthodontic treatment when the adult teeth begin to come into the mouth.

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Do you treat adult Cleft Lip/Palate patients?

Yes, we do treat Cleft Lip/Palate adults who either never had treatment as children or who have relapsed since having their earlier treatment.

Adult orthodontics treatment is now a well-established practice and we at CTOR Ortho have pioneered treatments especially for adults. These treatments are suitable for CL/P adults who wish to address changes in their bite.