Cleft lip and palate hinders many to find their smile. Thankfully, several groups and NGOs work together to make it easier for everyone to live life smiling.
Surgical mission
An international team of surgeons is currently here in the Philippines to give the gift of smile to 100 patients that need free cleft lip and palate surgery.
The Alliance for Smiles, a nongovernment organization committed to treating those afflicted with cleft lip and palate in developing countries, has brought the medical practitioners to the country. They are performing free corrective surgery on 100 underprivileged patients today until Oct. 12.
In the Philippines today, many poor children with uncorrected cleft lips and palates live in isolation. Most have difficulty eating, hearing, breathing, and most especially speaking. It is for this reason that cleft lip and palate corrective surgery needs to be done early.
Cleft lip and palate occurs in 1.94 out of every 1,000 children born in the country. In 2016 there were 1,731,289 births in the Philippines, which means that there were about 3,350 Filipinos born with the condition just in that year.
Doctors from Alliance for Smiles recommend cleft lip corrective surgery for patients as early as 3-4 months old; when there is a cleft palate or both cleft palate and lip, surgery must be done within 18 to 24 months.
The Alliance for Smiles medical mission is at Rizal Medical Center.
Cleft management symposium
Smile Train, the world’s leading cleft organization, brought together individuals involved in providing cleft care for “It Starts with A Smile” cleft management symposium.
The symposium was co-organized by The Noordhoff Craniofacial Foundation of the Philippines and hosted by GSK.
The event is intended to improve the knowledge and proficiency of medical practitioners and individuals involved in providing comprehensive cleft care for children.
Sharing the same realization that a child with a cleft often requires more than just surgery to be fully treated, the symposium was joined by representatives from the country’s esteemed medical associations including the Association of Philippine Orthodontists, Philippine Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons, Philippine Association of Speech Pathologist, and the Philippine Pediatric Dentists Society, Inc.
Through organized panel discussions moderated by medical practitioners, “It Starts with A Smile” provided a platform for the attendees to share, inform, and be educated more extensively on cleft care treatment for children. Topics discussed included preparing the child for surgery, anesthesia concerns, and primary cleft lip and palate surgery for infants and toddlers.
For children age 3 to 12 years old, speech evaluation after primary Palatoplasty, dental health, and bone grafting of cleft patients were thoroughly discussed. For those who have cleft lip or palate age 13 and up, orthodontics before and after Orthognathic surgery, assessment and considerations of the surgery, cleft management and Restorative/Prosthodontic treatment were tackled.
“We are proud to support this symposium, an effective event to educate local medical practitioners and individuals involved in providing efficient cleft care treatment to better the lives of those patients in need,” said Ritesh Pandey, GSK general manager for GSK Consumer Healthcare Philippines.
