CleftCast

Young children in their developmental years (ages 3-8, for discussion's sake) take in a lot of information, both verbally and orally, from their parents, peers and -- in the case of the cleft/craniofacial community -- physicians, plastic surgeons, craniofacial teams and others. This week, "CleftCast" host Joe Rutland begins a four-part series called "The Healthy Smile." In this series' first podcast episode, the focus will be on early childhood and how much a cleft lip/cleft palate/craniofacial anomaly can affect children. Rutland will emphasize how important it is to tend to the emotional well-being of children while they go through their own journey of reparative work. Other episodes in "The Healthy Smile" series will focus on middle to high school-aged kids, then the college years and, finally, adulthood.