Adopting a Child with Cleft Lip & Cleft Palate
Should you adopt a child with cleft lip or cleft palate? What is involved with this special need? Host Dawn Davenport interviewed four medical specialists working with children with cleft lip/palate: Dr. Andrea Smith, a dentist specializing in dental and facial prosthetics, clinical director at Lancaster Cleft Palate Clinic in Lancaster Pennsylvania, and one of only 350 maxillofacial prosthodontists worldwide; Dr. Thomas Samson, pediatric plastic surgeon at Penn State Hershey Medical Center, co-director of the Penn State Hershey Craniofacial Clinic and the Penn State Hershey Vascular Anomalies Clinic; Abbie Ellis, a feeding specialist at the Lancaster Cleft Palate Clinic; and Maureen Rostolsky, a speech therapist who specializes in working with children with cleft lip and palate at the Lancaster Cleft Palate Clinic.
- What is cleft lip and cleft palate exactly?
- What is the difference between cleft lip and cleft palate?
- What causes this condition?
- Is it usually a stand alone special need or condition or does it come in combination with other special needs or conditions?
- How is it corrected?
- How many surgeries are usually required?
- Is it always fully correctable?
- Does the ability to correct cleft lip or cleft palate depend upon the age of the child at adoption?
- What are the dental implications of cleft lip/palate?
- What age do orthodontics begin?
- Is it possible for a child with cleft lip/palate to breastfeed?
- Would a supplemental nursing/feeding system help?
- Are babies with cleft lip/palate able to suck on a bottle?
- What type of bottle is best?
- If a baby or toddler with cleft lip/palate has become accustomed to cup feeding, should parents reintroduce the bottle?
- If a child or toddler with cleft lip/palate has food coming out of their nose when they eat, is there the potential for harm or infection?
- What are the speech implications for cleft lip/palate?
- How long do children typically remain in speech therapy?
- Where can people who do not live near a specialize cleft clinic find help?
- Does insurance cover the treatment of cleft lip/palate?
- Does insurance cover the orthodontics?
- Does insurance cover the dental implants?