Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons: Surgeons are specialized in the treatment of cleft and related deformities from the infancy to adolescence. The surgical procedures optimize the function and outlook of the patients. Surgical procedures are planned in the growth a developmental period to provide the best result and ideal outcome. They work with the cleft team to reach to goal of providing function, and proper outlook of the face, palate and glance and speech and hearing.
Audiologists: Audiologists evaluate the speech and hearing and with the ENT specialists they treat the hearing problems and middle ear effusions related with these deformities.
Speech Therapists: Speech therapists helps the team in determining the correct timing for surgical, orthodontic and therapeutic interventions to make the speech better. They help the nutritionists in treatment of feeding disorders secondary to craniofacial deformities and parental counselling.
Dentists: Pedodontics help the treatment of many pediatric dental problems of cleft patients. They control the preoperative and postoperative dental follow up.
Orthodontists: Orthodontists coordinate the cleft team in providing the appropriate dental alignment and jaw development with surgeons and other specialists. Orthodontists of our team work in collaboration with us in all aspects. They prepare the patient for surgical correction using a technique named ‘nasoalveolar molding ’ . This approach also minimizes the problems that the baby may experience until the surgical correction of the cleft. They also have an essential role in the follow up of the cleft patients.
Prosthodontists: For cases that surgical correction is not possible they provide the necessary prosthetic devices and work in coordination with both dentists and surgeons.
Genetic Specialists: They take the family history. Pediatric genetic specialists re-evaluate the history and examine the patient and family and help in the counselling. They also give counselling about the next pregnancies.
Nurses: They are specially trained for pediatric patient care. They monitorize the development of every patient and help the clinicians in every step. They are not only helping in the individual patient care they also help the overall turnover of the ward. They both act in the preoperative and the postoperative setting.
Otolaryngologists: They are the specialists dealing with the obstructive airway problems, hearing loss, ear infections, allergic sinus and nasal problems of cleft patients. They work in collaboration with the other members of the cleft team in treatment of sleep, hearing, speech and nutritional problems.
Pediatrists: Pediatricians of the cleft team are trained for general follow up of the patients and providing the special needs of the ones with congenital anomalies.
Psychiatrists: They are responsible for providing the psychosocial adaptation and development including the behavioural and emotional functions. They also provide the necessary counselling for the patient’s family about these issues.
Social Workers: They help the patients and their family when an unexpected situation happens.
Family Committee: Family committee provide the connection and support between the families of the cleft patients. Committee consists of families having experience about the stressful conditions of the cleft patients (This committee is not yet active but it will be in the close future).
