Cleft

Nawrin and the C-Arm

This important piece of equipment was supplied by CLEFT and is used to see moving images of the cleft palate. Nawrin is a 13 year old girl who was experiencing speech difficulties and needed the C-Arm to show the cleft team if further surgery was required. Read more
Brush your teeth

Dental hygiene is important for everyone, but for children born with clefts, having healthy teeth is particularly important. Teeth can grown in unusual places when the structure of the jaw is altered by the cleft and so sometimes teeth can be difficult or even painful to access. Read more
Our mission

CLEFT was established in 2007 with one aim, to help improve the lives of children born with cleft lip and palate, either by funding research into the likely causes of the condition or by helping support teams in lower and middle income countries. Read more

We aim to provide long-term, sustainable ways to bridge the gap in cleft care and knowledge in the UK and overseas

[email protected] UPDATE

We are delighted to update you on the launch of the [email protected] website – a unique online cleft therapy and parent training resource for children with cleft articulation difficulties.

CLEFT in the Kurdish region of Iraq

CLEFT has recently been involved with visiting the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan where conditions such as cleft lip and palate have been neglected in recent years.

Global cleft care

Matt Fell and Brian Sommerlad presented at the Craniofacial Society of Great Britain and Ireland conference in September 20021 on Global Cleft Care.

James runs the London Marathon

One of CLEFT's amazing supporters, James, ran the 2021 London Marathon for CLEFT in 3 hours 31 minutes and raised thousands in the process.

Our impact

1 in 700	children are born with a cleft palate.
£40	the cost of a cleft operation on a baby in a low-income country.
£250	cost to give treatment over a lifetime.

Make a donation

Please select a donation amount (required)

£250

Can cover the lifetime cleft care needed for one child in a lower income country, including operations, speech therapy and dentistry.

£40

Can cover the cost of a cleft lip and palate operation in a low-income country by paying for essential anaesthetic and suture material.

£5

Can pay for 5 dental kits to provide patients and parents in Bangladesh with tools and education to improve dental hygiene.

Other

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Breakthroughs in cleft research

VPI Paper in Cleft Palate Craniofacial Journal

The American Cleft Palate Craniofacial Journal reviewed literature on palate re-repair for the treatment of velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI) and cited the Sommerlad Protocol and Palate Repair technique of VPI as being very beneficial to patients with an 84% success rate. Read more
The value of research to cleft professionals and patients

Chair of the CLEFT Research Steering Group, Rona Slator, is interviewed here by Tracy Morris on the value of research into cleft lip and palate. Read more
The genetics of cleft lip and palate

Investigations into the genetics of cleft lip and palate to understand more about why cleft lip and palate occurs. Read more
TBX22 Mouse Model

CLEFT has funded research into the investigation of a gene called the TBX22 that regulates important development events during normal palate function, in order to find new treatments. Read more

Our impact

1 in 700

£40

£250

Make a donation

Breakthroughs in cleft research