[Orthodontic and orthophonic neonatal guidance in facial cleft]

Babbling, which prepares pronunciation, the first articulatory movements and the most important 'imitation-interchange mechanism' with the parents, appears as early as age 3 months. According to the method that we proposed in Toronto in 1977, the soft palate is closed at age 3 months, whereas the hard palate remains open till 6 months of age. We think now that the fact of allowing the timely development of these primordial functions by provisional closure of the hard palate with a thin palatal plate and by parental guidance as early as 3 months of age should bring about additional progress.