Secondary alveolar bone grafting in cleft lip and palate patients

The case records of 72 patients in Northern Ireland who had secondary bone grafting of 94 alveolar clefts between 1987 and 1997 were examined. Details were recorded of age, sex, laterality of cleft, preoperative orthodontic treatment, whether grafting was combined with soft tissue revision, method of harvesting the graft, complications, eruption of canines, and the success of grafting as established by bone levels around the erupted canine. Bone levels were assessed on a four-point scale. Of 64 canines fully erupted in 94 clefts, 91% achieved bone levels of Type I or II and only two grafts failed. The outcome was more favourable when the canine was unerupted preoperatively.