Clefts & Craniofacial Syndromes

Craniofacial anomalies such as cleft lip and/or palate and craniofacial syndromes arise early in embryonic life.

Either genetic predisposition with mutations of responsible genes that “run” in the family tree, or environmental factors exerted by the mother on the embryo during pregnancy (smoking, alcohol consumption, substance abuse, medication taken by the mother for certain general health conditions) can affect normal embryonic organ development and growth with subsequent signs and symptoms expressed in the craniofacial region. 

Craniofacial syndromes are numerous and are usually part of a general syndromic condition. Syndromes that involve abnormal development and growth of the skeletal tissues and the neuromuscular system also have obvious impact in the craniofacial region and are expressed by abnormal growth, development, and function of the corresponding facial tissues (jaws, teeth, soft tissues).

Clefts of the lip and/or palate are the most frequent craniofacial anomaly with the incidence ranging amongst different populations, being around 1 every 1000 births in Greece. While around 70% of clefts are non-syndromic, 15 % of them can be part of a syndrome.

Clefts develop because the different parts that will comprise the future jaws and the lips fail to fuse together during the early embryonic life, so a gap remains between them. A cleft can be unilateral or bilateral, it can be localized only at the upper lip or extend to a great degree within the palate, can be localized only at the palate or it can be solely sub-periosteal. In sub-periosteal clefts, even though the gums managed to fuse, the underlying bone is still open making the case sometimes difficult to diagnose.

Treatment of these conditions lasts for many years and involves several stages performed by different medical specialists (maxillofacial surgeons, plastic surgeons, ear-nose-throat surgeons) and dental specialists (orthodontist, pediatric dentist, prosthodontist, periodontologist) as well as other professionals (speech therapists, psychologists) with all of them performing their tasks in a well-coordinated manner.

Our aims and goals and those of our collaborating specialists, who are involved in the treatment of such complex cases, is to offer comprehensive services that cover all aspects of patient needs from infantile life throughout childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.