Dr. Lauren Yarholar
UF Health Plastic Surgery and Aesthetics Center3450 SW Hull Rd, Gainesville, FL 32607
(352) 265-8402 · ufhealth.org
Surgeons in Florida who list Cleft Lip & Palate Repair among their services. Paid tiers appear first — Featured, then Enhanced — with ABPS-verified surgeons first within each tier. Paid placement is labeled.
9 listings explicitly name this procedure — 8 ABPS-verified — in Gainesville, Jacksonville, Lakeland, Sarasota, St. Petersburg, Jupiter. Generic category tags are not counted. Always check the badge on each profile.
Closes a cleft lip, a cleft palate, or both in staged operations from infancy through adolescence, restoring feeding, speech, hearing, and facial form.
Cleft lip and palate are openings in the lip, the roof of the mouth, or both, present from birth when facial structures do not fully fuse during development. Repair is staged: the lip is usually closed in the first months of life, the palate before speech develops, and further operations on the nose, jaw, and speech follow through childhood and adolescence. Care is delivered by a cleft team — plastic surgery, oral surgery, orthodontics, speech therapy, audiology, and pediatrics — rather than by a single surgeon alone.
Lip repair brings the lip muscles and skin together and reshapes the nostril on the affected side. Palate repair closes the roof of the mouth and repositions the muscles that control speech and swallowing. Later stages may include a bone graft to the gum line (usually before the permanent canine teeth erupt), nose refinement, and jaw surgery in adolescence. Each operation is performed in a hospital under general anesthesia, with feeding support planned around palate surgery in particular.
Lip repair. Usually in the first months of life, closing the lip and reshaping the nose base. Palate repair. Usually before the first birthday, closing the palate to support speech and feeding. Alveolar bone graft. Bone placed into the gum-line gap, usually in middle childhood. Speech surgery. Procedures such as a pharyngeal flap when speech remains nasal despite palate repair and therapy. Definitive nose and jaw surgery. Refinement in adolescence once growth is nearly complete.
| option | note |
|---|---|
| Lip repair | Usually in the first months of life, closing the lip and reshaping the nose base. |
| Palate repair | Usually before the first birthday, closing the palate to support speech and feeding. |
| Alveolar bone graft | Bone placed into the gum-line gap, usually in middle childhood. |
| Speech surgery | Procedures such as a pharyngeal flap when speech remains nasal despite palate repair and therapy. |
| Definitive nose and jaw surgery | Refinement in adolescence once growth is nearly complete. |
There is no single fixed charge for cleft lip & palate repair, and this guide does not publish prices: the written quote you receive at consultation is the binding figure.
Factors that commonly move the total include the surgeon's experience, the facility type (office procedure suite, ambulatory surgery center, or hospital), the type and length of anesthesia, the complexity of the surgical plan, whether other procedures are combined in the same operation, garments and follow-up visits, and the revision terms. Ask for an itemized written quote that states exactly what is included, and what would cost extra if a revision or an overnight stay became necessary.
Recovery for each stage involves hospital time, feeding adjustments (especially after palate repair, where special bottles and techniques are used), pain management, and wound care, with arm restraints sometimes used in infants to protect the lip repair. Speech therapy continues between and after operations, and orthodontic treatment spans years. Families should expect a long relationship with the cleft team, not a single surgical episode.
Risks include bleeding, infection, poor wound healing or wound separation (especially palate repair), scarring, asymmetry, and the need for revision operations. Speech may remain imperfect despite good surgery and requires therapy; hearing problems from middle-ear fluid are common in cleft palate and need monitoring. The staged plan should be discussed in full at the start, so each operation's purpose is clear.
Sources: American Society of Plastic Surgeons patient information and procedure guidance; U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidance where applicable. General information only, not medical advice. Confirm details with a board-certified surgeon at consultation.
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