< Treatment Timeline So although a lot of children and teenagers have braces at some point in their adolescence, cleft lip and palate patients are (in my opinion) the experts when it comes to braces. As a patient myself, I have worn braces in some form or another for over half my life. From when I lost my last baby tooth when I was nine to now at twenty years old. A brief timeline of my braces during my cleft treatment: A couple of ‘highlights’ from over a decade of wearing b