Craniofacial Awareness Month
Words from Dr. Mazzola
Cleft and craniofacial conditions affect thousands of infants, children, teens and adults in the United States each year. Some are born with congenital anomalies like cleft lip and palate, others with more complex, life-threatening craniofacial conditions.
"The team at NJ Craniofacial Center is completely dedicated to caring for the patient and the family of the child with craniofacial deformity. Whether the deformity is congenital (from birth) or acquired by trauma, cancer or other illness, we address not just the physical and surgical issues associated with craniofacial deformity, but the speech, language and oral motor issues, the psychosocial issues, cosmetic issues, and all other aspects of life associated with craniofacial defects or differences.
Many prenatal conferences that we have with parents expecting babies with cleft lip or cleft lip and palate (CLP) are followed up by meetings with plastic surgeons and specialists. Our team meeting, although at times may be a bit overwhelming when you first meet such a large group of doctors and specialists, is often the first introduction your family has to the best craniofacial team in the metro area.
We have patients from the tri-state area who have told us about their other “team experiences” where the parents met with only one or two doctors. Options were never discussed. Patients and families never saw their surgeon after the first meeting; we have even heard stories of parents not seeing the surgeons in the hospital, after their child’s surgery.
That is not how NJ Craniofacial Team operates. We truly care about our patients and our families. We take pride in watching our patients grow up and maximize their potentials in all aspects of their lives. We have followed children into adulthood, and we are proud of our cosmetic and surgical results. Whether a child needs skull surgery, facial reconstruction, CLP repair or hemangioma or tumor resection, our board certified, fellowship trained oral-maxillofacial, facial/ plastic surgeons and pediatric neurosurgeons have worked together for over ten years and cared for thousands of children."
- Catherine Mazzola, MD, FAANS
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