Abstract
We have developed a multidisciplinary approach to treat patients with cleft lip and palate over the last 30 years, cooperating mainly with the Clinics for Maxillo-Oral Disorders in the dental division. This cooperation has improved the outcomes of our palatoplasty and secondary alveolar bone grafting. However, we have had some problems, such as our medical and dental clinics were separated by a street, and we had little opportunity for comprehensive discussion with our speech therapists and otolaryngologists. To resolve these problems, we established the Tohoku University Hospital Cleft Palate Center that allowed us to integrate each clinic, i.e., plastic surgery, maxillo-oral disorders (dental division), speech therapy and pediatrics, on the same floor. The otolaryngology clinics for patients with cleft palate are held on the same day as the plastic surgery and dental clinics. In our Cleft Palate Center, we usually treat patients separately by division, but when we encounter a patient with problems, we gather at the clinic to discuss the case. The layout of the clinics allows us to easily interact with each other. In addition, we hold a comprehensive monthly meeting together with the plastic surgeons, dentists, speech therapists, otolaryngologists and nurses, which the pediatricians and obstetricians can also attend if necessary. Furthermore, we use the institution's intranet to share clinical information between the divisions. All these efforts help ensure our success, optimize treatments and make the patients happy.
