This beautiful girl is seen after repair of her bilateral cleft lip and palate.

The orbicularis oris muscle normally completes a ring around the mouth, allowing one to eat without food spilling out, and drinking through and straw.

In bilateral clefts, there is no muscle in the central portion, so the muscle must be brought all the way across from the sides.

This restores function, and helps to bring the premaxilla back in line with the lateral maxillary arches.

Elongation of the columella was also performed in the initial operation to reduce the flat and wide nasal appearance usually seen with bilateral cleft patients.