News and Stories

CLAPA has had its first big success in influencing government legislation – reinforcing our role as advocates for people born with cleft.

CLAPA has written to the Government to warn that ending specialist training fellowships for cleft surgeons could pose a serious risk to the future sustainability and safety of cleft care in England.

With an NHS dentist “impossible” to find, Mike missed out on years of dental treatment – and is now facing expensive bills to get his teeth sorted.

“I was in absolute agony with an horrendous tooth infection and couldn’t get anyone to treat me."

“When they look in my mouth, I usually get the wide-eyed look of horror and sharp intake of breath. And then they say, ‘you're a complicated case’.”

After a lifetime of poor dental provision from the NHS, Claudia said she's been forced to seek private treatment to save her teeth.

“They said it’s really important with my cleft to have a regular dentist, but finding one near where I live has been so difficult.”

Anne had decades of poor NHS dental treatment, which ignored care of her cleft and gums, and resulted in painful gum disease.

SURVEY NOW CLOSED. In the last few years, we’ve heard from many of you who’ve had problems accessing NHS dental care, especially for cleft-related issues. We want to learn more about the kind of problems you’ve been having so we can better understand how to help.