Cleft Palate

Cleft Lip; Cleft Lip and Palate; Cleft Palate/cleft Lip

For other uses, see Cleft (disambiguation). A cleft is a separation in a body's natural structure, usually formed before birth. Clefts that occur in the oral-facial region often involve the lip, the roof of the mouth (hard palate) or the soft tissue in the back of the mouth (soft palate). Two major types of oral-facial clefts are cleft lip/palate and isolated cleft palate, which are congenital deformities caused by a failure in facial development during gestation. A cleft lip or palate ...