Cleft lip and palate treatment with delayed closure of the hard palate. A preliminary report.

A new routine for the surgical treatment of cleft lip and palate patients is presented. Beside the regular lip-nose surgery it includes delayed closure of the cleft in the hard palate and soft palate closure without push-back technique. The effect on early facial growth was evaluated by comparing eight of these patients, three years of age, with a matched group where the hard and soft palate was closed primarily by vomer flap and velar push-back. The new treatment method resulted in significantly less teeth in crossbite occlusion due to a wider maxillary dental arch. As yet no serious disadvantages have been recorded.