Late discovery of cleft palate

A cleft palate is discovered on the first examination of the mouth in new-borns. This malformation is most often the cause of problems in feeding, speech and a tendency for respiratory infections. This article presents the case of a six year old girl in whom clefting of the soft and rear third of the hard palate was discovered upon examination for enrolment in elementary school by the school doctor. The girl was born in hospital and was examined twice as a baby. In her pre-school years the girl was treated eleven times for throat infections, by at least two general practitioners. Enrolment in school was postponed for one year. The girl underwent an operation and during the post operation year, her speech was completely restored. The following year she was enrolled in school. The aim of the article is to point out the importance of preventive medical examinations in childhood, especially the medical before enrolment in school, which may discover anomalies which had previously gone unnoticed.