Babies may have cleft lips with or without cleft palates. Cleft palates may also occur without cleft lips
Cleft lips may involve one or both sides of the lip
As well as unilateral or bilateral, cleft lips are further classified as complete or incomplete. A complete cleft is the entire lip, and usually the alveolar arch. An incomplete cleft involves only part of the lip.
A cleft chin, or a chin with a dimple in it, almost resembling that of a butt is pretty common amongst people. All a cleft chin really is- is a Y-shaped fissure on the jaw bone.
The length of the opening ranges from a small notch, to a cleft that extends into the base of the nostril
There is no known means of preventing clefting
Cleft lip is a congenital malformation in which the left and right sides of the upper lip do not join up properly. There may be genetic influences, as well as environmental or nutritional causes, but these are poorly understood. The proximate cause of cleft lip is a fusion defect, though.
The condition is congenital; that is, babies who have cleft lip, cleft palate, or both are born with the condition. For more information, see: http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/children/parents/special/birth/034.htmlit is a birth defect
The incidence among Japanese newborns is 2.1 in 1,000
The incidence among whites is one in 1,000 newborns
Native Americans have an incidence of 3.6 in 1,000 newborns
African Americans have an incidence of 0.3 in 1,000 newborns