Duodecim 2010;126:1286-1294 OVERVIEW

About 120 babies are born with cleft lip and palate in Finland each year. Most cases consist of isolated cleft palate (60%), while less than one in four cases suffer from complete cleft lip and palate. In Finland, clefts are closed before the child's first birthday. Clefts affect appearance, occlusion and speech, and the final outcome of treatment can only be assessed at the end of the child's growth. Centralisation of services and a multidisciplinary team approach have a bigger influence on the final outcome than different treatment protocols, the comparative advantages of which remain unproven. Good documentation of results is important to assess the outcomes of treatment.