The majority of participants at the annual meeting of the American Cleft Palate Association voted in favor of adopting the recommendation of Dr. Damir Matic of the Lawson Health Research Institute and the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at The University of Western Ontario in London.

Based on research complied over the past 20 years, Matic suggests the best time to close the cleft at the level of the gum in patients with either one or two sided clefts is just prior to canine tooth eruption.

"We close the lip at three months of age, we close the palate at 1 year old, but we don't touch the gum until they are 8 or 9, a time that corresponds to when the adult teeth start to appear," Matic says in a statement.

"Cleft is the most common facial anomaly and the second most common congenital anomaly among children. Based on our data, the downside of early closure is much worse than any potential benefits, and repairing the cleft prior to this time -- age 7 to 9 -- will damage facial growth."