Treatment of Cleft lip and cleft palate cases must achieve early improvement of the form and function of the oral cavity, thereby helping the patients secure normal articulation. Further, to prevent any defect that may result and to induce normal growth, treatment should not be limited merely to surgery. It is necessary and important that comprehensive treatment covering the psychological, pediatric, linguistic, and orthodontic fields be planned and implemented. This is obvious from our observation of a 16-year-old girl with cheilognathoschisis and a cleft palate who was suffering from emotional and psychological problems because of uraniscolalia and unsuccessfully treated cleft lips, as she had not undergone comprehensive treatment. Her utterance and psychological conditions before and after surgical operation were observed at certain time intervals by means of an articulation test, MMPI test, MAS test, and the Taken test for diagnosing parent-child relations.
The results are summarized below:
1. In the MMPI tests given before and after surgery, the indexes Pa, Pt and Ma scored high. Pa is an index for excessive sensitivity and a suspicious disposition; Pt indicates apprehension, fear and obsession; Ma sho w s the degree of activeness of thought and behavior, and the level of general activities.
2. It is dangerous to attribute these anomalies solely to surgical operation. It was suggested that true solution cannot be achieved without accurately grasping and improving background factors, such as, for e x ample, parent-child relations, guidelines for the future, and social environment.
3. This case has pointed out to us 'physicians providing medical service the importance of psychological guidance as well as medical care at initial diagnosis and each step of treatment thereafter.
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