Prosthodontic Rehabilitation for neonatal cleft lip and palate: A Case Report

Abstract

The cleft lip and/or palate is one of the common birth defect. The cleft patient faces various problems ranging from socio-emotional to anatomic, esthetic to physiologic malfunctioning. The very first problem the neonatal cleft patient faces is the problem of feeding. As the cleft patient present a multiplicity of problem, the management of such problems requires multidisciplinary approach by team at various stages of his/her age, which include dental specialties (oral surgeon, pedodontist, prosthodontist, orthodontist), medical specialists (plastic surgery, psychiatry) and allied health faculties (speech therapy, nursing, audiology). The prosthodontist can do much for such patient to solve the feeding problem by preparing the feeding plate prosthesis. This article describe various problems of the cleft patient, role of the prosthodontist, preparation of feeding plate prosthesis and important facts to keep in mind while preparing the feeding plate prosthesis.