California Orthodontist Treats Cleft Palates and Lips

LOS ANGELES AND SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA – In the United States each year, one in 800 newborns is born with a cleft palate or cleft lip.Of those, parents of many of these children will seek treatment that will include orthodontics at some point in their lives, said Dr. Atoosa Nikaeen, a California orthodontist.Nikaeen treats a handful of cleft lip/palate patients annually.

Correction Methods
There are a few orthodontic treatments that can be performed on babies prior to surgery, said Nikaeen, who runs a California orthodontics practice, but surgery typically is performed within a child’s first three to six months to correct cleft lip. Depending on the severity and type of deformity, additional surgeries may be necessary as the child grows.

The surgery performed to correct cleft palate is known as palatoplasty. A child must be a bit older for this surgery- typically a year to 18 months old, according to WebMD. More than one procedure may be necessary and the last of these procedures may spread into the child’s teen-age years.
Children with cleft palate sometimes wind up having missing, extra or misshapen teeth, Nikaeen said.

Cleft lip and palate also can cause problems with breathing, eating and swallowing, and can lead to dental and skeletal development issues that could require treatment by an orthodontist. The surgeries used to correct these birth defects also can cause dental problems as the adult teeth erupt, Nikaeen said.

“The surgeries performed to correct these deformities have been known to affect upper jaw growth in particular,” she said.
If palatal scar tissue interferes with the natural widening of a child’s upper jaw arch, the child could develop a condition known as crossbite. Crossbite occurs when the outside cups of the lower teeth are lateral to the outside cups of the upper teeth, according to dentalglossary website When the child reaches about age 7, Nikaeen may take mouth photos, X-rays and models to assist in further evaluating the condition. In cases that require bone grafting, the child typically must wait until he/she is between 8 and 10 years old.

Once the child’s surgeries have been completed, Nikaeen can begin the process of correcting the child’s adult teeth through Phase II orthodontics. This typically calls for the use of traditional braces with arch wires and metal or ceramic brackets, said Nikaeen, a California invisible braces provider.

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Learn More
If you would like to learn more about treating cleft lip/palate in children and their orthodontic treatment options, visit Dr. Nikaeen’s Web site: http://www.invisibraces.com/ or call her office for a free consultation: (310) 444-1113.

About Dr. Atoosa Nikaeen
Dr. Nikaeen graduated with honors from dental school in 1993 and received a doctorate in dental surgery (DDS). She gained experience practicing general dentistry for several years before attending Columbia University School of Dentistry and Oral Surgeons in New York, where she earned her post-doctoral education in orthodontics and received an orthodontic specialty certificate.

In addition to running her practice, Dr. Nikaeen is a faculty member at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) Orthodontic Department and teaches orthodontic residents.

Dr. Nikaeen’s Los Angeles practice serves patients throughout Southern California, including Beverly Hills and Santa Monica.

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