Maxillary bone transportation in alveolar cleft—transport distraction osteogenesis for treatment of alveolar cleft repair

Secondary autogenous cancellous bone grafting is a widely used method for the treatment of alveolar clefts and oronasal fistulae. However, failure of iliac bone grafting sometimes occurs due to inadequate covering with the surrounding soft tissue and marked scar formation, inappropriate patient age, or large clefts. For alveolar clefts, we developed a method consisting of alveolar bone transportation, closure of the alveolar cleft, and/or grafting of new bone. Transport distraction osteogenesis along the curve of the dental arch is ideal. Alveolar bone was transported in the planned direction using a ready-made bone-borne distractor in combination with an orthodontic arch wire for transport guidance. This method allows simultaneous correction of nasal septal deviation and also correction of maxillary arch deformities and malocclusion since, the dental arch is expanded without donor sacrifice. This method can be regarded as tissue engineering to expand bone tissue. This method can be safely performed not only in patients undergoing initial treatment for alveolar clefts but also in patients in whom bone grafting has failed. Since 1997, we have performed this method in 22 patients and obtained good results.