First glimpses of teeth

A cleft lip and/or palate can impact the development of teeth. If and to what extent depends on the type and extent of the cleft. Missing teeth, small teeth, extra teeth, and crooked teeth are common. Because Wyatt has a complete unilateral cleft lip and palate we knew his teeth would be involved. More than likely he will at least be missing a tooth (the lateral incisor where his cleft runs through). Really, we have no idea yet the extent of Wyatt's dental issues. We will work closely with our dentist and the orthodontist from our cleft team on this.

All of this has added a layer to the excitement of baby's first tooth. It will be interesting to see how his baby teeth and permanent teeth come in. Wyatt's front two bottom teeth came in at 7 months old. This was at the same time his big sister (not cleft affected) lost the same two teeth!

Today we were surprised to find Wyatt's central incisor (front tooth) next to his cleft came in! By the looks of it it came in a few days ago. There is a lot of extra tissue where his cleft lip was repaired and this part of his gum line isn't very visible so I am not surprised we missed it.

All his teeth look great so far.

Surgery to close Wyatt's palate will be September 18th. Then we should get a break from surgery for a while.

For more information on dental care for a child with a cleft lip and palate:

http://www.cleftline.org/what-we-do/publications/fact-sheets/dental-care-for-a-child-with-cleft-lip-and-palate/