Book Chapter

The Orofacial Examination: Normal and Abnormal Findings

Wulfsberg, Eric A.

2002

Overview

The discovery of an oral cleft (OC) in a baby or young child is a distressing event for the family. Parents who have been visualizing a healthy child throughout pregnancy are often shocked by the significant physical and cosmetic abnormalities that accompany an OC. Following the discovery of the OC, the parents will appropriately have many questions, which may be divided into two general categories: the first addresses the diagnosis and prognosis of the condition, involving questions such as “What is wrong?,” “What can be done about it?,” and “What does it mean for the future?”; the second addresses etiology and recurrence risk, typically including questions such as “Why did it happen?,” “Will it happen again?,” and “What are our reproductive options in the future?” These questions can be answered only after accurately determining the abnormalities that are present and establishing the etiology of the OC. When a genetic syndrome with associated mental retardation is the cause of the cleft, the developmental prognosis may be more important to the ultimate function of the individual than the specific an atomic issues surrounding the OC and its repair. Thus, this section discusses issues related to the general and orofacial evaluation of the OC patient with emphasis on clues to differentiate syndromic from nonsyndromic OCs.

• Publisher: Oxford University Press,Oxford University Press, Incorporated
• Subject: Genetics and Genomics / Molecular Biology and Genetics / Otolaryngology (ENT)
• ISBN: 0195139062, 9780195139068