What Is a Narrow Palate?
The palate is located at the roof of the mouth. It serves as a demarcation between the mouth and cavities of the nose. It starts to develop in utero [1] around the fifth week of development.
A narrow palate occurs when two standard deviations are narrower than normal. Two standard deviations lower than average means that your palate is smaller than the palates of 98 percent of people. It can be caused by structural mouth abnormalities seen at birth and behaviors such as aggressive thumb sucking. If it is not attended to, the narrow palate becomes more difficult to treat as a teenager or adult.
A narrow palate is easiest to treat in infants and young children before the mouth stops developing. In adults, a narrow palate is usually treated with surgery. You must keep regular appointments. In this article, we will be discussing symptoms of a narrow palate, potential causes, and treatment options.