My Journey to Create a Revolution in Cleft Treatment

Creating a revolution in cleft treatment… Come along with me!

During my training days, I visited an orphanage called Ashadaan, and there, I saw a lot of cleft children. Some were untreated, and some had received treatment partially. Since then, I was driven to work towards this super speciality. Post completing my Master's Degree: I went to Chennai to pursue my Fellowship in Cleft and Craniofacial Surgery. Cleft is not a curse and is cent per cent treatable. Working with all those children, I found my purpose and decided to dedicate my life - to the complete rehabilitation of cleft children.

When I started working in Jaipur, I realized that many children didn't receive proper and timely treatment for cleft after their primary cleft lip and palate repair in infancy. These patients started coming to me with facial deformities and misaligned teeth. I found so many lacunas in cleft treatment. I took it upon myself to educate healthcare providers on the importance of complete rehabilitation of the child. We hosted a Medical Education Program to raise awareness about Cleft Lip and Palate treatment. We emphasized: the importance of a multidisciplinary team approach where healthcare providers from different fields, such as Pediatricians, Neonatologists, Cleft Surgeons, Orthodontists, Pedodontists, Neonatal Therapists, and Speech Therapists, come together to guide the parents and the child towards optimum and timely treatment according to the age.

Dr Cooper, a renowned Cleft Surgeon, once said: "When a cleft child is born, you have to treat the mother and feed the baby." Psychological counselling of the parents, a social support system, and appropriate healthcare all work together to ensure that cleft children live a life of healthy quality. Many Pediatricians, Pediatric Surgeons, Maxillofacial Surgeons, Pedodontists, Neonatologists, and Neonatal Therapists attended the event. We also had an interactive panel discussion about the protocols of Cleft Surgery.

A child with this deformity undergoes primary cleft lip and palate repair in infancy until they are a year old, followed by aggressive speech therapy. Preventive, interceptive orthodontic treatment to guide facial growth in a normal direction comes right after speech therapy. Failing to follow these rehabilitative steps will lead the child to grow into an adult with a facial deformity and incomprehensible nasal speech. All of which will negatively impact the quality of life.