Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Summer 2023 - 6

PCSO News and Events
Editorial
The Legacy of the American Cleft
Palate Craniofacial Association and
Multidisciplinary Team Management
Dr. Patrick K. Turley
Manhattan Beach, CA
PCSO Bulletin Editor-in-Chief
This special issue of the Bulletin is devoted to the
treatment of patients with craniofacial anomalies
and the orthodontists who devote all or part of
their professional careers to treating this special
population of patients. Many orthodontists and
other health care specialists who treat these patients
belong to the American Cleft Palate Craniofacial
Association (ACPA), which is celebrating its
80th anniversary this year. The goal of ACPA is to
optimize outcomes for individuals with oral cleft or
craniofacial conditions through education, support,
research, and interdisciplinary team care.
The first meeting dedicated to cleft palate that was
attended by individuals from different disciplines
occurred in 1943.1-2
The American Academy of
Cleft Palate Prosthesis would form the next month,
with the Association changing its name to the
American Association for Cleft Palate Rehabilitation
in 1949. The Association soon incorporated
(1951) with its purpose " to stimulate specialistic
and public interest in, and a more exact knowledge
and improvement practice of, the science and art
of rehabilitation of persons with cleft palate and
associated deformities of the mouth and face
(A. Levy, ACPA executive director, email communication,
April 2023). The association changed its
name to the American Cleft Palate Association
(ACPA) in 1962 and finally to the American Cleft
Palate Craniofacial Association in 1988, retaining
the acronym ACPA. Our own PCSO member Dr.
Patricia Beals, who was profiled in the spring issue
of the Bulletin (Portrait of a Professional), was president
of the ACPA in 2022,3
possibly the first person
from PCSO to have achieved this distinction. The
Association comprises approximately 2200 members,
with about 76,000 patients treated by ACPA
approved teams each year (A. Levy, ACPA executive
director, email communication, April 2023).
To pursue its goal of advancing the science and
art of cleft palate/craniofacial rehabilitation, the
Association, through its various committees and
task forces, has undertaken numerous activities
over the years. The Nomenclature Committee
published " Proposed Classification of Clefts of the
Lip and Palate " (1959), which gave practitioners a
tool to help in the diagnosis of such conditions. To
help families affected by craniofacial conditions, the
Association began to develop educational materials
for parents (1968) and to help with the care of these
patients worldwide, ACPA held its first International
Congress in Houston, Texas, in 1969. To gain more
data on outcomes, the ACPA published " Guidelines
for Reporting the Results of Surgery on Patients
With Cleft Lip/Palate " (1989). " The Parameters of
Care " were published in 1993. As interdisciplinary
teams coordinated the care of this special population
of patients, the ACPA developed a listing mechanism
for teams (1996) and in 2006 established a
Taskforce in Team Compliance, to determine whether
the current team standards process appropriately
reflected optimal patient care. The standard for cleft
palate/craniofacial teams, developed by the task
force, was approved by the ACPA Council and the
Foundation Board in 2008.
The official publications of ACPA have developed
and matured along with the Association.
The Bulletin was first published in 1950 and
the Newsletter the following year in 1951. The
Newsletter was renamed The Cleft Palate Bulletin
in 1954. During J. Daniel Subtelny's presidency
(1964), The Bulletin was renamed to The Cleft
Palate Journal and subsequently to An International
Journal of Craniofacial Anomalies in 1972.
In 1991, it was again changed to The Cleft Palate
Craniofacial Journal, and it celebrated its 50-year
anniversary in 2014.
There are currently 184 multidisciplinary teams
in the United States that are approved by the
ACPA. Forty-seven of 50 states have at least
one craniofacial team. There are 34 teams from
seven of eight states in PCSO: Alaska (1), Arizona
(3), California (22), Hawaii (3), Idaho (1), Oregon
(3), and Washington (4). The ACPA mandates
that an orthodontist be a core member of all
6
PCSO Bulletin Summer 2023
Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Summer 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Summer 2023
