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When Matthew was born with a cleft lip and palate, his mother, Teice, had mixed emotions. Although his parents David and Teice were shocked their son was born with the condition, they were also relieved that it wasn’t life-threatening. “I knew it could be fixed,” said Teice.
At 3 months old, Matthew’s cleft lip was repaired at Wolfson Children’s Hospital by plastic surgeon R. Dean Glassman, MD, with the University of Florida (UF) Jacksonville Cleft/Lip Palate Clinic. At 9 months, Dr. Glassman closed Matthew’s soft palate. His hard palate was repaired at age 18 months. In between, Matthew had multiple ear tube surgeries by pediatric otolaryngologist, Bruce Maddern, MD, for ear infections that were cleft-related. “Kids with Matthew’s condition are really susceptible to ear infections. Their eustachian tubes do not drain fluid from the middle ear into the throat as efficiently as other kids’ do,” explained Teice.
When Matthew was 3-½, he had a surgical pharyngeal flap repair, a procedure to correct the airflow during speech. “Matthew didn’t have another surgery until March 2008, but it was a big one,” remembers Teice. “Dr. Glassman took a bone graft from his hip and placed it in the alveolar ridge in his mouth to form a solid gum line, which will in the future hold a prosthetic tooth where he doesn’t have a permanent lateral incisor.” Matthew also has braces, which has significantly straightened his teeth. A future surgery will improve his underbite so there are no functional issues later in life, such as teeth-grinding, TMJ or headaches.
Teice said all of this surgery has not phased Matthew. “He doesn’t know anything different,” she said. “He is so strong. After his big surgery in 2008, he was out of the hospital the next day with no pain medications.”
Now a 12-year-old gifted student in sixth grade, Matthew takes all advanced classes and loves sports. “He can do anything he wants except play football,” said Teice. “That’s because he has a lot of money invested in his mouth! But he does everything other boys can do, like fishing and hunting with his Dad.”
She looks forward to the day when everyone will see his beautiful smile more often. “He’s self-conscious about his teeth, but after his last set of braces, he should have a normal smile,” she said.
Teice and her family are grateful to the physicians, nurses and staff of the UF Cleft Lip and Palate Clinic and Wolfson Children’s Hospital for their support and for taking such good care of Matthew. “I don’t know what we would’ve done without them,” she said emotionally. “They’ve given Matthew a normal life.” |
