This fourth edition of Miss Morley's splendid book contains a very specialized wealth of information on the child with a cleft palate—a veritable encyclopedia in miniature.
While the book has been directed mainly toward plastic surgeons and speech therapists, it contains detailed and accurate sections on the following: The Embryology of the Central Face; Normal and Pathologic Physiology of the Lips, Jaws, Palate and Pharynx; Growth Patterns; Feeding Problems; Surgical Methods of Repair; Factors Influencing Speech; and a detailed and illuminating section on the "Total Treatment of the Child With a Cleft Palate."
The plastic surgeon's goal for the child with a cleft palate is to produce normal, natural speech and good physical appearance. Normal speech is defined as that which is intelligible, natural, free from defects and equal to that of his contemporaries.
The optimum time to repair clefts of the lip is 4 to 8 weeks of age,