337 - Management of Unilateral Complete Cleft Lip and Palate

Cleft lip occurs when medial nasal prominences fail to fuse with the medial aspect of the maxillary process. Cleft palate occurs when the palatal shelves fail to fuse. Cleft lip may be unilateral or bilateral, and can occur with or without cleft palate. Children with cleft lip and palate will have the lip repaired around 3 months of age and the palate repaired by one year. An interdisciplinary cleft lip/palate team is needed to properly treat and manage these children. Nasoalveolar molding (NAM) uses a removable appliance to shape the nose and improve symmetry while potentially decreasing the number of future surgeries needed to enhance aesthetics. This case report follows a patient with unilateral complete cleft lip and palate undergoing nasal alveolar molding at Tufts School of Dental Medicine Pediatric Dentistry, followed by cleft lip repair by Tufts Medicine Pediatric ENT.

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