Orthodontic management of the congenital cleft palate patient

Patients with cleft anomalies require extensive and prolonged treatment from birth to adulthood. These patients are subject to the scrutiny of many health disciplines during this comprehensive rehabilitation process. The orthodontist, who is intimately involved from the beginning, must achieve tooth alignment, arch symmetry, and establish a suitable functional occlusion that will provide allied disciplines with the appropriate foundation to optimize their treatment objectives. Each completed treatment phase should be sequential in manner, so as to facilitate and expedite the treatment goals of the other team member. To ensure the continuity of treatment and to satisfy the aesthetic, functional, and socio/psychologic requirements of each case, treatment must be coordinated and closely monitored by periodic team evaluations.