title: [Integrated treatment of cleft lip and palate. Organization of a treatment team].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Collect the team experience in the treatment of children with cleft lip and palate, indicating the evolution of the team composition, advantages and improvement aspects, trying to transmit the need of team treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Bilbao cleft palate team was created in 1983, since then a cleft palate clinic, a parents group and a unit of velopharyngeal function has been developed. At present the team is composed by: pediatric reconstructor surgeon, speech therapist, orthodontist, dentist, pediatrician, ENT, maxillofacial surgeon, dismorphologyst, geneticist, nursing.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One of the achievements has been the data unification, obtaining speech cephalometrics, photographic dental casts and video images with prospective view. At this time 403 cleft lip and palate children have been intervened, being essential the transdisciplinar team approach between surgeon, speech therapist and orthodontist. The importance of the team coordinator is pointed. The results of an audit of the two stage cleft palate closure in complete unilateral cleft lip and palate have obligated us to vary our surgical policy. The unresolved aspects are the lack of multidisciplinary team recognition at official level and the non existence of orthodontist in staff, without cost coverage of this treatment by public health system.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In our experience the team treatment of cleft lip and palate has resulted in improvement of the clinic results, treatment protocols and training.
authors: Servicio de Cirugía Infantil, Hospital de Cruces, Baracaldo, Vizcaya.
authors: I
authors: I
authors: Sánchez-Ruiz
authors: G
authors: G
authors: González Landa
authors: V
authors: V
authors: Pérez González
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Díez Rodríguez
authors: J L
authors: JL
authors: López-Cedrún
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Miró Viar
authors: S
authors: S
authors: García Miñaur
authors: R
authors: R
authors: de Celis Vara
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Sánchez Fernández
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002971:Cleft Lip / Q000601:surgery*; D002972:Cleft Palate / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D010348:Patient Care Team