SMILES

Hey, I was just reading the post of how adults with clefts feel about their clefts. I was just wondering if any of you have advice for us parents to children with clefts. My daughter has a unilateral that has been repaired but still has a slight notch, and apparently a scar and she has a notch in her gum where she hasn't got a tooth in yet so I doubt she will. (15 mo old) Advice is always helpful.




its so nice to have people to talk to

You have a BEAUTIFUL daughter!!

Seems like you're already doing a great job. My only advice is to keep talking with her specialists to make sure that she's getting all the best possible care, and I'm sure you're letting her know she's loved and normal. That's what mattered the most to me.

Everyone's different, so I don't have any definitive answers, but I can tell you my experience. I had a bi-lateral cleft lip and palate and I had a lot of orthodonture. Even when my second set of teeth came in, I didn't have those teeth, what do they call them...you know, the ones just beside the front teeth on the left and right sides. So, with braces, they actually moved all my other teeth forward to fill in the spaces, and then using some basic bonding they made those next teeth look like the ones that normally are next to the front teeth. As a result, I had plenty of space in the back on top for my wisdom teeth

Hope that's helpful. Sorry I don't have any more technical terminology