What is lisping?

What is tongue thrusting?

Tongue thrusting is a habit wherein the person forces the tongue against the back surface of the front teeth while swallowing. This habit can produce proclination of the front teeth and spaces between them. The dentist may have to train the patient on the correct swallowing method by some exercises and use of habit breaking devices.

What is cleft lip and palate?

Clefts of the lip and palate are a very common occurrence. They are congenital deformities meaning defective developments seen at the time of birth.

Cleft lip is seen as a clefting of the lip - usually the upper. This produces bad facial appearance.

Cleft palate is seen as a cleft or furrow in the palate producing sometimes a communication between the nose and the mouth. This causes difficulty in nursing the child and may later pose problems of speech.

Why do clefts occur?

The clefts of the lip and palate occur due to a verity of reasons the most important being genetic. The other causes include the intake of certain teratogenic drugs or chemicals during pregnancy, which cause a defect in the development.

How are clefts treated?

Clefts pose numerous problems. They are treated by a multidisciplinary approach by involvement of the pediatrician, orthodontist, pediatric dentist, plastic surgeon, prosthodontist etc.