Use the treatment links above to find out more about each stage in the treatment timeline, or scroll down for a general overview of what you can expect as your child grows up.
Cleft Lip and Palate Treatment Timeline
This is a summary of typical services
It is designed to help you understand how everything in the treatment pathway for cleft fits together, and what you might expect at each stage of your or your child’s life. It is important to remember, however, that every child is different and that this is a general guide only. What is available may differ from area to area.
The Outcomes of the Service
An ‘outcome’ is simply the final result of a treatment. For example, one outcome of having braces might be that you’re happier with how your teeth look. When we talk about the ‘outcomes of the service’, we mean the end result of all cleft lip and palate treatment, from diagnosis right through to adulthood.
The aim of treatment of cleft lip and/or palate (sometimes called ‘CLP’ or just ‘cleft’ for short) is to make sure all children and adults can cope well socially and are not disadvantaged as they go through life.
The principles of good care for CLP say that those who have a cleft lip repair should have a good aesthetic (how good it looks) and functional (how well it works) outcome. Those who have a cleft palate repair should have good speech and normal hearing. Both should have the best possible development of their face and teeth, including good jaw growth.
The Treatment Pathway
Every cleft is unique, just like every child, and everyone going through the care pathway will have different needs which will be handled by the individual cleft teams. If you have a question about your or your child’s care, talk to your Cleft Team in the first instance.
The care pathway laid out here is a typical example only, and not all parts will apply to every individual moving through the pathway. As well as specialist cleft care, a child’s health and progress will be monitored by the usual Primary Care paediatric services (e.g. vaccinations) which we have not included here.
For certain services, such as hearing, there may be variations in the pathway across units.
Whilst we have made every effort to ensure the information on this page is accurate, it should only be taken as a general guide and should never replace the information given to you by your Cleft Team.
Antenatal (before birth) Care
Cleft Unit
Contact by Cleft Team within 24 hours of referral, usually by the Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS).
Parents will be offered a visit from the CNS at an appropriate time and place.
Local Care – Obstetric Unit or private Ultrasound Centre
Diagnosis of cleft lip at 20-week anomaly scan, confirmed by specialist if necessary.
Referral to local Cleft Centre within 24 hours of diagnosis if agreed with prospective parents .
0 – 3 Months
Cleft Unit
Visit from Cleft Nurse within 48 hours of birth, and ongoing support, assessment and advice following discharge home.
Specialist feeding assessment, advice and support in the use of special feeding bottles or a nasogastric (NG) feeding tube if needed.
Preventative dental advice and treatment in consultation with Cleft Unit. The aim is for the child to have dental health just as good as other local children without a cleft
Newborn Hearing screen for all babies. Referral for ongoing hearing assessment and management for babies born with a cleft palate.
Referral to Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) and/or audiology if needed
Clinical Psychology Support – parents will have access to a psychologist, counsellor or nurse who can help them cope with any feelings or concerns they have related to their child’s cleft. This is available at all points along the care pathway.
Local Cleft Clinic
Monitoring of child for signs of syndromes associated with cleft.
Genetic counselling will be offered to parents to help them understand why they had a child with a cleft and what the chances are of this happening again. This is available at any time, including when the child is grown up and considering a family of their own.
Local Care
Diagnosis of cleft palate within 24 hours of birth.
Contact Cleft Unit within 24 hours of birth and/or diagnosis.
Dental Health education and advice (in liaison with the Cleft Units)
3-6 Months
Cleft Unit
Lip Repair Surgery
The lip repair usually takes place when a child is at least 3 months old.
The child will be assessed before any surgeries by the multidisciplinary team to ensure they are fit enough to have the surgery and also to help monitor the ways in which the child will change afterwards. Parents will be able to ask any questions about their child’s care at this stage.
Timings of surgeries may vary, and the surgery date can be pushed back for a number of reasons – talk to the Team if you have concerns.
The Cleft Team will be able to help parents prepare for surgery, as well as give advice and support regarding aftercare.
Occasionally, further adjustment surgery is needed as the child grows up. This will take place as and when appropriate.
6-12 Months
Cleft Unit
Palate Repair Surgery
The palate repair usually takes place between 6-12 months.
The child will be assessed before any surgeries by the multidisciplinary team to ensure they are fit enough to have the surgery and also to help monitor the ways in which the child will change afterwards. Parents will be able to ask any questions about their child’s care at this stage.
Timings of surgeries may vary, and the surgery date can be pushed back for a number of reasons – talk to the Team if you have concerns.
The Cleft Team will be able to help parents prepare for surgery, as well as give advice and support regarding aftercare.
Occasionally, further adjustment surgery is needed as the child grows up. This will take place as and when appropriate.
Local Cleft Clinic
Hearing test at 7-10 months for babies with a cleft palate, as well as annual hearing tests up to 5 years or as long as is required. Treatment as necessary
18 Months – 5 Years
Cleft Unit
Speech and Language Therapy Assessment – This usually takes place at around 18 months. Treatment will be offered if necessary, but the need may not become apparent until the child is older.
A further assessment takes place at around 3 years old, and treatment is recommended if it’s needed. Assessments for speech problems at this and later stages may involve a nasendoscopy or videofluroscopy.
Psychological Support for families if requested prior to school entry.
Paediatric Dentistry advice and/or treatment if necessary. This is available along the entire treatment pathway.
Full assessment by Cleft Team – a child with a cleft should receive a full assessment by all specialists in the cleft team at age 5, to ensure that any ongoing or emerging issues are being dealt with appropriately.
Surgery to revise lip, or speech (velopharyngeal) surgery if necessary. These are available throughout the entire pathway when needed.
Local Cleft Clinic
Audiology assessment of children with a cleft palate at regular intervals up to and including 5 years (5 year assessment may be at Cleft Unit).
ENT assessment if necessary
Local Care
Speech and Language Therapy – This will be provided by local therapists in consultation with the specialist from the Cleft Team. The aim is for all children to have good quality, intelligible (understandable) speech by age 5-6.
6 – 12 Years
Cleft Unit
Orthodontic Assessment and Treatment – An orthodontist will monitor the position of the child’s teeth, including their adult teeth when they start to come through. Treatment may be needed to correct their position, which often includes fitting braces.
Speech and hearing checked and managed for children with cleft palate.
Psychological Support for families if requested prior to school transfer, or to help with any issues such as bullying or self-confidence.
Full assessment by Cleft Team at age 10, including for orthodontic treatment.
Alveolar Bone Graft (ABG) Assessment and Surgery
This involves taking a piece of bone from the hip and placing it in the gap left by the cleft so adult teeth can come through properly. Between the ages of 7 and 9, a child will be assessed by the team’s orthodontist, paediatric dentist and the surgeon responsible for ABG surgery to see if it is necessary.
If it is necessary, the preparation for the surgery as well as the surgery itself will usually be completed by 12 years of age, with a follow-up 6 months later.
Local Cleft Clinic
Ongoing management of speech and hearing issues
Local Care
Dental and Orthodontic treatment
Speech and Language Therapy from local therapists in conjunction with the specialist from the Cleft Team
13 – 20 Years
Cleft Unit
Offer of genetic counselling for patients interested in the causes of their cleft and how likely they are to pass it on to any children they have (‘hereditability’)
Full assessment by Cleft Team at ages 15 and 20 (if necessary).
Discharge from Child Cleft Services between ages 16-20, including final discharge appointment. Patients may be referred on to adult services to continue their treatment if necessary, or they can get a referral later in life from their GP or dentist.
Orthognathic Assessment and Surgery
Orthognathic surgery involves re-aligning the jaws to change the appearance of a person’s profile. This is usually offered to patients who have an underbite, and is usually completed after their face has finished growing at 16-18 years old.
There is a lot of planning, assessment and preparation involved with this surgery, including orthodontic care before and after. The Cleft Unit can offer more information.
Surgery as Required
Surgery may be required or requested for a number of different reasons, e.g. rhinoplasty (surgery to change the shape of the nose), dental surgery, lip revision, speech revision, palatal fistulae closure (closing small holes in the palate), etc.
Local Cleft Clinic
Ongoing management of speech and hearing issues
Paediatric and restorative dental care in liaison with Cleft Unit
Local Care
Ongoing orthodontic treatment
21+ Years
Treatment as required
Adults may re-enter the cleft service at any time for a consultation about any aspect of their care, including psychological support, genetic counselling and specialist dental treatment, which is all available on Medicare if it is deemed necessary.
Adults can get a referral to the Cleft Unit from their GP or Dentist.