Congenital cleft lip and palate, commonly known as "rabbit lips" and "gobbling up", is not uncommon in China, and tens of thousands of newborns with cleft lip and palate come out every year. Children with cleft lip and palate have poor facial appearance, oral chewing function and pronunciation, and the incidence and severity of dislocation are also high. In the past, the treatment of this deformity only paid attention to surgical closure of cracks and ignored orthodontic treatment. Even if orthodontic treatment is carried out, it is after surgical repair, so satisfactory results cannot be obtained. If children with congenital cleft lip and palate are treated with early orthodontic treatment and wear maxillary plastic appliance, good results can be achieved. ?
In children with complete cleft lip and palate, due to the interruption of maxillary continuity, cracks appear in the palate, which changes the normal anatomical structure of the oral cavity. When the tongue moves forward and acts on the cleft lip continuously, the cleft lip in the palate will become wider and wider, and the palatal lid will become higher and higher. For bilateral complete cleft palate, because the anterior palate bone is free, it loses the support of the surrounding tissues and cannot resist the forward force of the lingual muscle. Instead, it shows excessive protrusion of the anterior jaw. In order to prevent the above situation, we must find ways to make the tongue muscle and other tissues function in a relatively normal oral space. Early use of maxillary plastic appliance can play this role. ?
Maxillary plastic appliance can induce all bone segments to grow and reshape in the direction of forming a good docking relationship, make the maxilla gradually return to normal shape, narrow the palatal space, improve the communication relationship between oral cavity and nasal cavity, and make the oral cavity closer to normal. Children will not choke when eating, so they can be fed different foods to get enough nutrition and ensure their normal development. ?
So, when is the best time to wear the appliance? Because the tissue displacement of complete cleft lip and palate exists from birth, in order to prevent it, maxillary plastic appliance should be used as soon as possible to eliminate the future trouble. Clinical practice has proved that the younger the child, the easier it is to accept this kind of appliance and the better the effect. Therefore, it is best to wear plastic orthotics within 2 months after birth to obtain satisfactory results. ?