Cleft Palate Clinic

UM Health-Sparrow Cleft Palate Clinic

This clinic for children who have cleft lip and/or palate or other facial malformations meets once a month. Each visit lasts approximately 4 hours. The clinic is designed to provide examinations, not treatment. Children experience little if any discomfort. The specialists examine each child and work together to develop a comprehensive treatment plan specific to that child. The clinic comes under the guidelines by the State of Michigan for Children's Multidisciplinary Services (CMS).

Treatment objectives 

  • Normal jaw growth with normal facial form and appearance (normal dentition)
  • Normal speech production
  • Normal hearing
  • Normal chewing/eating

Multidisciplinary Team

The treatment objectives are met through the coordinated efforts of the clinic's multidisciplinary team, including a surgical plan to be performed over a period of years. Children are evaluated on a yearly basis to guide the families of the child as he/she develops and to monitor the progress of the child.

  • Pediatrics
  • Plastic surgery
  • Psychology
  • Social work
  • Pedodontics oral surgery
  • Prosthodontics
  • Orthodontics
  • Audiology
  • Otolaryngology
  • Speech therapy
  • Nursing
  • Nutrition