Cleft lip and cleft palate, also known as orofacial cleft, is a group of conditions that includes cleft lip, cleft palate, and both together. A cleft lip contains an opening in the upper lip that may extend into the nose. The opening may be on one side, both sides, or in the middle. A cleft palate occurs when the roof of the mouth contains an opening into the nose. These disorders can result in feeding problems, speech problems, hearing problems, and frequent ear infections. Less than half the time the condition is associated with other disorders.
Oral and maxillofacial surgery is a surgical specialty focusing on reconstructive surgery of the face, facial trauma surgery, the oral cavity, head and neck, mouth, and jaws, as well as facial cosmetic surgery.
Shriners Hospitals for Children is a network of 22 non-profit medical facilities across North America. Children with orthopaedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate are eligible for care and receive all services in a family-centered environment, regardless of the patients' ability to pay. Care for children is usually provided until age 18, although in some cases, it may be extended to age 21.
Hemifacial microsomia (HFM) is a congenital disorder that affects the development of the lower half of the face, most commonly the ears, the mouth and the mandible. It usually occurs on one side of the face, but both sides are sometimes affected. If severe, it may result in difficulties in breathing due to obstruction of the trachea—sometimes even requiring a tracheotomy. With an incidence in the range of 1:3500 to 1:4500, it is the second most common birth defect of the face, after cleft lip and cleft palate. HFM shares many similarities with Treacher Collins syndrome.
Operation Smile is a nonprofit medical service organization founded in 1982 by Dr. William P. Magee Jr. and his wife Kathy Magee. It is headquartered in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Smile Train is a nonprofit organization and charity providing corrective surgery for children with cleft lips and palates.
Craniofacial surgery is a surgical subspecialty that deals with congenital and acquired deformities of the head, skull, face, neck, jaws and associated structures. Although craniofacial treatment often involves manipulation of bone, craniofacial surgery is not tissue-specific; craniofacial surgeons deal with bone, skin, nerve, muscle, teeth, and other related anatomy.
Encephalocele is a neural tube defect characterized by sac-like protrusions of the brain and the membranes that cover it through openings in the skull. These defects are caused by failure of the neural tube to close completely during fetal development. Encephaloceles cause a groove down the middle of the skull, or between the forehead and nose, or on the back side of the skull. The severity of encephalocele varies, depending on its location.
The Senang Hati Foundation, also known as Yayasan Senang Hati, is a non-profit organization in Bali that assists people living with disabilities. The name Senang Hati loosely translates as "Happy Hearts" in Indonesian. The foundation creates programmes to develop self-confidence, physical and economic independence, and increase awareness in the general community of the rights of people with disabilities. Senang Hati accomplishes this through the assistance of volunteers, who provide skills training and social interaction. The society also provides wheelchairs and housing, and runs Senang Hati Places, a home for disabled children.
Paul Tessier was a French maxillofacial surgeon. He was considered the father of modern craniofacial surgery.
CURE International is a Christian nonprofit organization based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. CURE's efforts are focused on providing medical care to children suffering primarily from orthopedic and neurological conditions. The organization's stated mission is "healing the sick and proclaiming the kingdom of God." The organization operates hospitals in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Niger, the Philippines, Uganda and Zambia. CURE also operates a pediatric specialty training program called CURE Neuro helping children with hydrocephalus and spina bifida survive and thrive through global partnerships. Since its inception, CURE Neuro has trained 41 surgeons from 23 low- and middle-income countries.
A jaw abnormality is a disorder in the formation, shape and/or size of the jaw. In general abnormalities arise within the jaw when there is a disturbance or fault in the fusion of the mandibular processes. The mandible in particular has the most differential typical growth anomalies than any other bone in the human skeleton. This is due to variants in the complex symmetrical growth pattern which formulates the mandible.
Yayasan Kemanusiaan Ibu Pertiwi (YKIP), or "Humanitarian Foundation for Mother Earth", is an Indonesian Non Profit Organisation dedicated to helping the needy in Bali through health and education programs. The charity was founded in the wake of the 2002 Bali bombings which left 255 dead and 446 injured.
S. M. Balaji is a dental and Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon from Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. He is a dental scientist who specialises in repair of cleft palate, rhinoplasty, ear reconstruction, jaw reconstruction, facial asymmetry correction, dental implantology, maxillofacial surgery and Craniofacial surgery.He is the alumni of prestigious Annamalai University where so many efficient oral and Maxillofacial surgeon's are trained.
McKay McKinnon, M.D. is an American physician specializing in plastic surgery. He works at Saint Joseph Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California and the French-Vietnam Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. He graduated from medical school at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. He completed his general surgery residency at Harvard University and his plastic surgery residency at the University of Miami. He completed plastic surgery fellowships at Children's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, University of Miami, and in Paris, France. He formerly served on the faculty at the University of Chicago Medical Center and worked at Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago, Illinois.
A facial cleft is an opening or gap in the face, or a malformation of a part of the face. Facial clefts is a collective term for all sorts of clefts. All structures like bone, soft tissue, skin etc. can be affected. Facial clefts are extremely rare congenital anomalies. There are many variations of a type of clefting and classifications are needed to describe and classify all types of clefting. Facial clefts hardly ever occur isolated; most of the time there is an overlap of adjacent facial clefts.
The Children's Surgical Centre is a non-profit, non-governmental, and non-religious surgical hospital in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and registered as a 501(c)(3) in the United States. Founded in 1998, the centre aims to improve the quality of life for disabled children and adults by providing free rehabilitative surgery.
Anthony David Holmes AO is a plastic and reconstructive surgeon who trained in both Australia and the United States, and is qualified in both countries. His primary interest is facial reconstruction and he has developed several new procedures. His most high-profile surgery was in 2009 when he worked with a large team of experts to separate the Bangladeshi conjoined twins Trishna and Krishna. In 1990 he created the Children's Craniofacial Foundation of Australia which has subsequently been renamed The Jigsaw Foundation.
Alliance for Smiles (AfS) is a nonprofit organization founded in 2004 in San Francisco. They provide free surgical repairs for cleft lip and cleft palate, with missions mostly in the continents of Asia and Africa. They also work to develop treatment centers where continuous follow-up care can be provided.
