Tony Markus, consultant maxillofacial surgeon, is leader of the cleft ... Surgery is not just a matter of joining sides together. What we are doing is dismantling the components of the palate ...

A Cleft, a gap in the upper lip and/or the roof of the mouth (palate) is a facial birth difference that occurs when certain body parts do not fuse together during the first trimester of pregnancy.

we consider the surgery to be a success. The child looks more like everyone else at school. Q: How many of these types of patients do you treat each year? Kau: We see about 60 to 80 cleft lip palate ...