A cleft lip contains an opening in the upper lip that may extend into the nose. The opening may be on one side, both sides, or in the middle. A cleft palate occurs when the palate contains an opening into the nose. The term orofacial cleft refers to either condition or to both occurring together. These disorders can result in feeding problems, speech problems, hearing problems, and frequent ear infections. Less than half the time the condition is associated with other disorders.
Oral and maxillofacial surgery is a surgical specialty focusing on reconstructive surgery of the face, facial trauma surgery, the oral cavity (mouth), head and neck, and jaws, as well as facial cosmetic surgery/facial plastic surgery including cleft lip and cleft palate surgery.
Emergency is a humanitarian NGO that provides free medical treatment to the victims of war, poverty, and landmines. It was founded in 1994. Gino Strada, one of the organization's co-founders, served as EMERGENCY's Executive Director. It operates on the premise that access to high-quality healthcare is a fundamental human right.
Smile Train is a nonprofit organization and charity providing corrective surgery for children with cleft lips and palates. Headquartered in New York City and founded in 1999, Smile Train provides free corrective cleft surgery in 87 countries, training local doctors and providing hospital funding for the procedures.
Encephalocele is a neural tube defect characterized by sac-like protrusions of the brain and the membranes that cover it through openings in the skull. These defects are caused by failure of the neural tube to close completely during fetal development. Encephaloceles cause a groove down the middle of the skull, or between the forehead and nose, or on the back side of the skull. The severity of encephalocele varies, depending on its location.
ReSurge International, formerly known as Interplast, is an international humanitarian organization that provides free reconstructive surgery in developing countries, primarily to children with cleft lip and palate and burn scar contractures.
Smile Network International is an American non-profit, humanitarian organization that specializes in providing free surgeries for impoverished children in developing countries who are born with cleft lips and palates.
William P. Magee Jr. an American plastic and craniofacial surgeon, founded Operation Smile in 1982, with his wife, Kathleen S. Magee, B.S.N., M.Ed., M.S.W., and serves as the organization's Chief Executive Officer. Operation Smile is a private, non-profit volunteer medical services organization providing reconstructive surgery and related health care to indigent children and young adults in developing countries and the United States.
CURE International, based in Grand Rapids, MI, is a Christian nonprofit organization that owns and operates eight charitable children's hospitals around the world. CURE provides medical care to pediatric patients with orthopedic, reconstructive plastic, and neurological conditions. The organization's stated mission is to "heal the sick and proclaim the kingdom of God." The organization currently operates hospitals in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Niger, the Philippines, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
A jaw abnormality is a disorder in the formation, shape and/or size of the jaw. In general abnormalities arise within the jaw when there is a disturbance or fault in the fusion of the mandibular processes. The mandible in particular has the most differential typical growth anomalies than any other bone in the human skeleton. This is due to variants in the complex symmetrical growth pattern which formulates the mandible.
Maxillary hypoplasia, or maxillary deficiency, is an underdevelopment of the bones of the upper jaw. It is associated with Crouzon syndrome, Angelman syndrome, as well as Fetal alcohol syndrome. It can also be associated with Cleft lip and cleft palate. Some people could develop it due to poor dental extractions.
Theavy Mok is the first plastic surgeon in Cambodia. He received his medical doctorate in 1990 from the University of Health Sciences, Phnom Penh. Since then he has worked in the general surgery department at the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital. Starting in 2002, Theavy has served as medical director of Operation Smile Cambodia. In 2007, Theavy was awarded the Royal Government of Cambodia's Gold Medal of Work for his efforts to develop human resources in Cambodia through teaching. Most recently in 2009 he was awarded the Bronze Medal for his collaborative projects with international NGOs, medical professionals and the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital. Also in 2009, Theavy received the first-ever International Observer Fellowship awarded by the Canadian Society of Plastic Surgeons.
In the Philippines, the Kapampangan Development Foundation (KDF) is an organization of Kapampangans living outside the region. It was founded in 1987 by 35 people who were inspired by President Corazon Aquino; in 2012, 11 of its founders remained. The KDF has created a rural-industrialization program known as RICH and has provided social and health services to poor residents of Pampanga through its HELP program, with assistance from international and non-governmental organizations and government agencies.
Operation Smile China Medical Mission (OSCMM) is a non-profit organisation that provides reconstructive surgery for the underprivileged children with cleft lips and / or palates in China.
The Overseas Plastic Surgery Appeal is a registered charity in the UK, that exists to provide free facial surgery for poor children and young adults in Pakistan. The OPSA team operate on facial abnormalities including cleft lip and palate.
Alliance for Smiles (AfS) is a nonprofit organization founded in 2004 in San Francisco. They provide free surgical repairs for cleft lip and cleft palate, with missions mostly in the continents of Asia and Africa. They also work to develop treatment centers where continuous follow-up care can be provided.
MV Global Mercy is the world's largest civilian hospital ship, constructed as the first purpose-built floating hospital for humanitarian organization Mercy Ships. The contract to build the vessel was awarded to Stena RoRo of Göteborg, Sweden in 2014. Construction was done by China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) at the Tianjin Xingang Shipyard, Tianjin, China and was completed in 2021. The Global Mercy sailed to Antwerp, Belgium in 2021 for outfitting. In February 2022, the vessel sailed to Rotterdam, the Netherlands, for a two-week public relations stopover where it was unveiled to visitors for the first time. In May 2022 the ship sailed on its maiden voyage to Africa where it joined the other vessel in the Mercy Ships fleet, the Africa Mercy, in Dakar, Senegal to begin operating as a floating training center for the first time.
Hirji Sorab Adenwalla was an Indian missionary who joined the Jubilee Mission in Kerala, India, as a surgeon. Adenwalla turned what was originally a small dispensary into a 1500-bedded medical college and research institute called the Jubilee Mission Medical College. Adenwalla specialized in cleft lip and cleft palate surgeries, providing treatment at low or no cost to more than 21,000 patients. Adenwalla contributed several new techniques to the cleft lip surgery, such as a method to avoid a vermillion notch, a protocol for cleft lip nose correction in unilateral cleft lips, and a procedure for septal repositioning.
Global Smile Foundation (GSF) is a nonprofit organization headquartered in Norwood, Massachusetts, U.S., dedicated to providing free comprehensive cleft care, including surgery and dental services, to children in underserved regions of the global south. Additionally, the foundation offers education and training for healthcare providers specializing in cleft treatment.
Richard Andrew Lewandowski is an Australian plastic and reconstructive surgeon.
