Cleft lip treatment in Turkey
Best children's hospitals and doctors for cleft lip treatment in Turkey
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Congenital clefts of the upper lip and palate account for approximately 86% of anomalies in the maxillofacial area and for 20-30% of all malformations. With this medical condition, doctors in Europe recommend timely treatment.
Overview
A congenital medical condition in the hard and soft palate is a common malformation of the face in children. Every day about a hundred babies in the world are born with this anomaly. It manifests itself as a rupture of the middle part of the lip, connecting the oral cavity with the nasal cavity. Half of the children with this medical condition have a cleft lip defect. With timely treatment, cleft palate and cleft lip are not dangerous to the life and health of the baby.
A cleft lip is also congenital and can be treated with plastic surgery.
At the same time, doctors recommend that parents immediately take measures when the cleft lip is detected in children since it affects the correct feeding and speech formation. These children also need additional treatment of the mouth and teeth.
Such medical conditions of the lips and palate are connected with both visual and physical discomfort. If parents ignore the importance of cleft lip repair, in the future, the child may develop low self-esteem due to a specific appearance.
Causes
Experts have no consensus on why babies are born with cleft lip and palate. The development of the medical condition is associated with the presence of one or more provoking factors.
Often the cause of the cleft lip and palate is metabolic disorders at the early stages of pregnancy when it is accompanied by a lack of vitamins and minerals, toxicosis, and the threat of miscarriage.
Taking antibiotics, sedatives, medications for thyroid diseases, tumors, arthritis, or even the previous bariatric plastic surgery (for weight loss) can provoke a cleft of the upper palate in newborns.
Another risk factor for the birth of a child with pathology is a genetic predisposition. If one or both parents were born with a cleft lip or palate, the chances of having a baby with the same defect are very high.
One of the most common causes of the development of a cleft lip in children is a woman's smoking during pregnancy planning and pregnancy itself.
To minimize the risk of having a baby with a cleft lip and cleft palate, parents-to-be should:
- Eliminate stress
- Eliminate bad habits
- Plan a pregnancy in advance
- Plan a pregnancy at a young age (desirable)
- Consult a geneticist if any of the relatives has this medical condition
- Avoid taking non-mandatory medications
Peculiarities of the disease
The presence of a cleft lip is indicated by the deformation with unilateral or bilateral cleavage in the lower or upper lip.
In infants, the cleft lip and cleft palate interfere with the normal breastfeeding and swallowing process. In severe forms of the cleft lip baby needs to be fed through a nasal tube. Subsequently, due to improper bite and deformation of the teeth, the processes of chewing food are disrupted.
Usually, the cleft lip leads to pathologies of the dentition. Patients may have some teeth missing, and the angles of their growth may not be correct. There is also a tendency to caries formation. To eliminate dental symptoms, doctors of the Medipol Mega University Hospital Istanbul recommend carrying out competent orthodontic treatment. In some cases, implantation of missing teeth is required.
Children with a cleft lip also have difficulty producing sounds. Doctors from the Medipol Mega University Hospital Istanbul often diagnose rhinolalia – a disorder of speech function, manifested by the problematic pronunciation of consonants, fuzzy pronunciation of words, and the presence of the nasal sound.
Diagnostics
The facial bones of the baby develop during the 14-16th week of pregnancy. Therefore, the cleft lip diagnosis can be detected already at this stage, with the help of ultrasound examination. Although, the type of the lesion, and the complexity of the disease can be estimated only after the birth of the baby.
However, this is not an indication for the termination of pregnancy. This is a cosmetic defect that does not affect the main physical and mental development of the child.
After the baby is born, there are no problems with diagnosis making. The defect is visible with the naked eye. To exclude the presence of concomitant congenital defects, additional diagnostic procedures are usually carried out (examination of vision, hearing, the phased assessment of the level of development).
The diagnosis of cleft lip and palate in a newborn child is clarified by examination of the pharynx. The possible pathologies of the development of the skull, breathing disorders, smell, hearing, and sound production are determined as well.
Treatment
When diagnosing a cleft lip, doctors in Turkey advise undergoing plastic surgery after the birth of a child.
If you look at the images of the cleft lip before and after the surgery, it will become clear that today this disease is being successfully treated. A serious cosmetic defect that prevents chewing food and the formation of speech, after the surgery, turns into a barely noticeable scar over the upper lip.
Treatment of congenital cleft lip is indicated for all children, if there are no contradictions to the chosen method of surgery. A child, who in addition to cleft lip has been diagnosed with malformations of vital organs, will not be able to undergo surgery right away.
The surgery for treatment of cleft lip and cleft palate must be completed by the age of three – the period when speech is formed actively. Otherwise, parents will have to make a lot of effort so that their child learns to pronounce sounds correctly.
The surgery is usually performed on a child who is already 3 months old. Further actions are carried out on the recommendation of a doctor. After a child has permanent teeth, braces are usually placed to align the dentition. Such children need to be more careful about oral hygiene in the future.
It is customary to carry out cleft lip repair surgery for children aged from three months to six months. In severe forms of cleft lip, it is possible to carry out surgery in the first days of life. At the same time, a child should have a stable weight gain; there should be no pathologies of the cardiovascular system, gastrointestinal tract, nervous and endocrine systems.
It is believed that the earlier cleft lip repair is performed, the less noticeable the effects of the cleft lip will be. However, due to the small anatomical size of the lips in newborns and the imperfection of some physiological functions, the risk of blood loss is high. Therefore, doctors in Turkey wait for up to the age of six months.
Cleft lip surgery allows completely restoring the anatomical structure and integrity of the lips, getting rid of the defect of the nose, palate, and other facial disorders.
Depending on the existing defects of the palate, lip, and nose, doctors choose which surgery is necessary for patients. The most common types of cleft lip repair include:
- Cheiloplasty (lip plastic surgery).
Cheiloplasty (lip plastic surgery) provides restoration of aesthetic, anatomical, and functional features of the lips.
Doctors determine the number of surgery procedures, their timing, and types. Before the surgery, it is necessary to have consultations with several specialists to identify and eliminate other problems. This includes the consultation of a dentist (it is necessary to exclude caries so that during the surgery there will be no infection of the wound), an otolaryngologist, an audiologist, a psychologist, and a speech therapist.
Cheiloplasty also creates the preconditions for the correct development of the maxillofacial system in the future.
- Rhinocheiloplasty (surgery of the nose and upper lip).
The surgery allows us to correct the cleft lip, nasal cartilage, abnormally located muscles of the oral cavity.
The surgery is indicated if it is necessary to restore the anatomical structures of the lip, to form a full-fledged muscular frame in the mouth area, to eliminate the cartilaginous deformity of the nose. It makes it possible to create favorable conditions for the correct development of the nose, lips, and upper jaw.
Due to the high level of development of modern medicine in Turkey, 90% of children born with a cleft lip and cleft palate can have a normal life without being ashamed of their appearance. It should be mentioned that in 70% of cases, after surgery, additional intervention may be required at an older age, aimed at eliminating residual deformities of the nose and lips.
Surgery for cleft palate and follow-up cosmetic plastic surgery helps to eliminate external defects, restore the functionality of the oral and nasal cavities.
Rehabilitation period
The duration of rehabilitation after cleft lip repair surgery is determined by the complexity of the case and the age of the patients.
The restoration of many functions depends on the quality of the rehabilitation measures. In a hospital setting, doctors’ efforts are aimed at improving the patient's well-being, organizing proper nutrition, preventing pathologies of the upper respiratory tract, preventing infectious diseases and complications.
In the future, patients will need:
- Teeth examinations
- Respiratory and hearing organs examinations
- Speech therapist services for setting correct breathing, sound production, articulation
The number of rehabilitation measures, the number of doctors involved in the treatment, and the cost of cleft lip repair at well-known medical clinics in Turkey should not diminish the desire to improve your child's health.
After consulting specialists, a significant part of the work on the restoration of functions can be performed (breathing exercises, exercises for developing the speech apparatus, preventive measures, etc.). You should know that one of the best clinics in Turkey Medipol Mega University Hospital Istanbul provides all the services for international patients.
Where can I undergo cleft lip treatment in Turkey?
Medical tourism is becoming more and more popular these days, as, for instance, the treatment in Turkey ensures good quality of cleft lip repair.
The best success rates in cleft lip repair in Turkey demonstrate:
- Medicana International Istanbul Hospital
- Medipol Mega University Hospital Istanbul
- Medical Park Gebze Hospital
- Acibadem Healthcare Group Istanbul
- Medicana International Ankara Hospital
You can check out the full list of clinics in Turkey on the Booking Health website.
The cost of cleft lip treatment in Turkey
The prices in hospitals listed on the Booking Health website are relatively low. With Booking Health, you can undergo treatment in Turkey in the best plastic surgery clinics at an affordable price.
The cost of cleft lip treatment in Turkey varies, as the prices depend on clinics, the chosen type of treatment, and its complexity.
The cost of cleft lip treatment in Turkey is approximately 5,900 EUR.
You also need to consider the cost of additional corrective procedures and follow-up care. Therefore, the ultimate cost of cleft lip treatment in Turkey may differ from the initial prices.
To make sure that the cost of cleft lip treatment in Turkey is suitable for you, contact us by leaving the request on the Booking Health website.
How can I undergo treatment of cleft lip?
It is not easy to self-organize any treatment abroad. It requires certain knowledge and experience in medical tourism. Thus, it is safer, easier, and less stressful to shift some responsibility onto a medical tourism agency.
As the largest and most transparent medical tourism agency in the world, Booking Health has up-to-date information on cleft lip repair in Turkey.
Booking Health will help you select a hospital, taking into account your wishes for treatment. We will provide you with the information about specialized Turkish clinics, and you can choose the right one for you.
We want to help you and take on all the troubles. You can be free of unnecessary stress, while Booking Health takes care of all organizational issues. We will make sure that you or your child safely undergo the cleft lip treatment in Turkey.
Medical tourism can be easy! All you need to do is to leave a request on the Booking Health website, and our manager will contact you shortly.
