Complications with cleft lip or cleft lip and palate

Feeding

• Most babies after birth can breastfeed whereas a cleft makes it significantly more difficult to suck on the breast.

Hearing Complications

• Babies with a cleft are especially prone to risks of developing middle ear fluid or losing their hearing.

Dental Anomalies

• Delayed tooth development and abnormal development, which may require orthodontic treatment.

• As a result of cleft palate abnormalities, teeth may fail to erupt normally, and will most likely require orthodontic treatment.

Speech

• Babies use their palate to form sounds and annunciate, however a cleft palate may affect the development of speech and their speech may have a nasal sound.

• Articulation and resonance disorders.

Social Challenges relating to having a cleft

• Children with clefts often experience and have to deal with behavioral, social, and medical problems due to differences in their voice and appearance. Unfortunately, the added stress of extensive medical care and procedures can prove to be a challenge for many children with a cleft.

Even from birth, children born with a cleft are exposed to complications which may significantly affect them in a variety of ways. Fortunately, these issues can be combated and addressed through experts such as craniofacial surgeons, speech-language pathologists, orthodontists, and more.