Submucosal Cleft Palate

There are several things that I needed to research the past couple of days. I decided to teach everyone what I learned the past week. A submucuos cleft palate is pretty serious and needs to be treated as soon as possible.
What is a submucous cleft palate? A submucous cleft palate is one type of cleft palate. The word palate refers to the roof of the mouth and the term “cleft” indicates a split in the palate. The palate consists of both a bony portion (hard palate) and a muscular portion (soft palate). At the end of the soft palate, the small finger-like projection of tissue that hangs down is called the uvula. The term submucous refers to the fact that the cleft is covered over by the lining (mucous membrane) of the roof of the mouth. This covering of mucosa makes the cleft difficult to see when looking in the mouth.
The diagnosis of submucous cleft palate is usually confirmed by the surgeon or another clinician feeling the palate, as well as observing any of the obvious signs. It can be very difficult, even for skilled observers, to detect some submucous clefts. It is also difficult to determine the incidence of submucous cleft palate, because many do not cause any problems and therefore remain undiagnosed. A submucous cleft palate may occur with a cleft lip, but the majority occurs in isolation. Submucous clefts can cause early feeding difficulties, speech problems and associated ear problems. Practice varies from place to place, but most centers do not automatically operate on submucous clefts. Each diagnosed case is carefully evaluated, with babble and speech development being monitored by a speech and language therapist. In infants, an operation may be undertaken when there is a history of significant feeding difficulties, persisting ear problems, and delayed development of babbling. Speech and language therapists will listen in particular for sounds which require pressure in the mouth, e.g. ‘d', ‘b', and ‘g'. In other children, referral to the cleft