Skeletal facial balance and harmony in the cleft patient: Principles and techniques in orthognathic surgery

The management of the palatal cleft, dental arch, and subsequent maxillary form is a challenge for the craniomaxillofacial surgeon. The purpose of this paper is to present the experience of a senior surgeon (KES) who has treated over 2000 patients with cleft lip and palate. This paper focuses on the experience of a recent series of 103 consecutive orthognathic cases treated by one surgeon with a surgical-orthodontic, speech-oriented approach. It will concentrate on not only correcting the occlusion, as others have described, but also on how a surgeon who was trying to achieve optimal aesthetic balance, harmony, and beauty, approached this problem.