This helps improve the quality of treatment received by the child and improves quality of life. An accurate prenatal diagnosis of the CLP anomaly is critical for establishing long-term treatment planning, prediction of treatment outcome, and discussion and education of the parent. Although there is no intrauterine treatment for CLP, both mother and child benefit from early diagnosis and education. A multidisciplinary team approach is now accepted as the standard of care in dealing with CLP patients. The time period immediately after the diagnosis and the first year after the birth is most challenging for parents. A systematically planned treatment plan and support system will help assist parents. The ultimate aim is to help educate parents and create awareness so as to improve care provided for the child. Treatment
Cleft lip and palate is very treatable; however, the kind of treatment depends on the type and severity of the cleft. Most children with a form of clefting are monitored by a cleft palate team or craniofacial team through young adulthood. Care can be lifelong and are looked after by craniofacial cleft teams often consist of: cleft surgeons, orthodontists, speech and language therapists, restorative dentists, psychologists, ENT surgeons and audio-logical physicians. Treatment procedures can vary between craniofacial teams.
Similarly, the main character in Graham Greenes 1936 crime noir novel A Gun for Sale, Raven, has a cleft lip which he is sensitive about, and is described as "an ugly man dedicated to ugly deeds". In the 1976 Patricia A. McKillip novel The Night Gift, one of the high-school aged protagonists is shy because she has a cleft lip, but learns to have more confidence in herself. In the first edition of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, one of the people Gilderoy Lockhart stole credit from was a witch with a harelip who banished the Bandon Banshee. In later editions, this was changed to a witch with a hairy chin.In chapter 26 of Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck Finn meets the three Wilks sisters, Mary Jane, Susan, and Joanna. Joanna is described as, "the one who gives herself to good works and has a hare-lip." As a form of offensive synecdoche, Huck Finn refers to Joanna as "the hare-lip" rather than by her name. In Inheritance, the final title of Christopher Paolinis Inheritance Cycle, the main character Eragon heals a newborn girl with this condition in a display of complicated healing magic. It is stated that those within Eragons society born with this condition are often not allowed to live as they face a very hard life.Cleft lip and cleft palate are often portrayed negatively in popular culture.