Service information
Surgery
If you or your child have experienced delays in receiving cleft
surgery and have concerns or questions regarding this, please feel
free to contact the team to discuss this. In the meantime, we would
like to assure you that, as a team we are working closely with our
colleagues across the Trust to improve surgical waiting times for
all patients awaiting cleft surgery, and once we have a suitable
surgical admission date for you or your child, a member of the team
will be in contact to discuss this.
Cleft Clinical Nurse Specialists:
If you have any specific questions about your baby's primary
(first) surgery, please do not hesitate to contact your usual Cleft
Clinical Nurse Specialist or any nurse via the Cleft team reception
0117 342 1177.
Speech
If you have any specific questions about your child's speech
surgery, please contact the Speech Therapy team via the Cleft team
reception 0117 342 1177. Please also see the speech therapy pages for
further resources.
Orthodontic/dental care
We have resumed our dental services but there may be delays to
treatment appointments. If you are experiencing dental pain please
contact your dentist, or if are not registered with a dentist
please contact 111.
Some helpful dental advice for children's tooth brushing has
been produced by the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry and
can be accessed below:
0-3 years
old
3-6 years
old
7+ years old
If you or your child is undergoing brace treatment it is
important to keep your mouth and appliance clean. Sugary food and
fizzy drinks should be avoided. This will prevent damage to the
teeth including marks on the teeth that may last forever. This is
very important at this time where there might be a long wait for
the next appointment. If you have any problems with your braces
please contact the cleft orthodontist treating you.
There is helpful advice on British Orthodontic Society
website www.bos.org.uk
Wellbeing
The Cleft Psychology team has written some advice to help you
manage any difficult feelings about delays to cleft treatment and
surgery. Please
click here for further information.
Page last updated June 2023
