Our Craniofacial Program provides care to children with congenital birth defects (present at birth) such as cleft lip/palate, skull or ear problems and other craniofacial abnormalities. Craniofacial anomalies are a group of congenital deformities in the growth of the head and facial bones, some of which are mild and others that are more severe and require surgery
Approved CCS Center
The Craniofacial Program at our Stramski Center is a California Children’s Services (CCS) approved Special Care Center (SCC). This means a specially designated multi-disciplinary care team is responsible for all care coordination and case management of a patient in this program. Patients typically qualify for the Craniofacial CCS Special Care Center by medical diagnosis, complexity of their disease and financial status.
Your Care Team
The craniofacial care team is an extensive multi-disciplinary team of experts, including a plastic/craniofacial surgeon, neurosurgeon, pediatric dentist, orthodontist, oral surgeon, speech language therapist, nurse specialists and social worker. The speech language therapist is an essential member of this team and provides evaluation of speech, language, resonance and feeding disorders. Various recommendations are made at the multidisciplinary craniofacial care team meeting that assist in directing the child’s care. The team will asses the child’s situation and may recommend craniofacial surgery as a corrective treatment.
Unique Craniofacial Team
Other Team Members
- Neurosurgeon – a doctor who is specially-trained in the treatment of children with head, spine or nervous system conditions or problems
- Nurse specialists - are responsible for arranging authorizations for procedures, appointments, special tests and studies and communication among the child, family, school, primary care physician, team and others involved in the care of the child. The nurse specialist also assists the child and family in obtaining medical supplies, laboratory appointments and other care as needed.
- Oral surgeon - a doctor specially trained in correcting abnormalities in the mouth and jaw.
- Pediatric dentist and orthodontist – a dentist who specializes in the treatment of children's teeth and children's oral diseases.
- Speech language therapist – are therapists that assess, diagnose, treat, and help to prevent disorders related to speech, language, cognitive-communication, voice, swallowing and fluency.
- Social worker - trained in psychotherapy and helps the child deal with a variety of mental health and daily living problems to improve overall daily life.
