Palates

Palatal clefts are more serious.  Since there is an opening between the mouth and nasal cavity, children often have difficulties with speech, swallowing, and infections.   They often will have milk coming out of their nose, even when they're not laughing.   Chronic ear infections are very common, and drainage tubes are frequently placed prophylactically.

This baby is severely malnourished, possibly because of difficulty swallowing.  He is 15 months old, I think, and cannot tolerate surgery because the repair would break down from his weakened ability to heal. We have referred him to a feeding clinic in the hopes that he would put on some growth so we can repair him in the future.  The black spot protects him from evil influences.  Double blind studies have not been done to determine if the spot actually works or not.

Nandita Grover is a dentist from India who worked nonstop making palatal obturators.  This appliance temporarily closes the hole until the palate surgery is done at a later date, preventing food from entering the nasal cavity.   Not having access to her UV oven to cure the polymer material, she simply placed the plastic in the window ledge for the sunlight to cure, which was much slower.  Sun dried obturators, how Californian.   This is the western equivalent of a talisman that protects the child from evil influences.

Eusebia Khyriem (pronounced "U-C-B-A")  is a speech therapist from India.  Children with clefts have difficulties with speech, even after surgery.  They require intensive speech therapy, but all we could do was to get them started.  In our overstretched metaphor, she would be the oracle who tells us that certain behaviors have a repellent effect, and teaches the correct way to act that would be more acceptable.