Hard palate
The hard palate is a thin horizontal bony plate made up of two bones of the facial skeleton, located in the roof of the mouth.While a cleft palate has a severe impact upon the ability to nurse and speak, it is now successfully treated through reconstructive surgical procedures at an early age.Recently, these researchers found that even though there is no exact cause, there are several factors that drastically increase the risk of a baby being born with an orofacial cleft palate.Based on a recent study of 103 German patients with cleft palates, it was found that 25.2% of their mothers smoked during pregnancy, a higher proportion than for the population as a whole.[5] Long-term use of the drug chloroquine diphosphatase, used in malaria prophylaxis, rheumatoid arthritis and other conditions, was found to cause bluish-grey pigmentation in the hard palate.