Marginal incision became a common surgical approach in periodontal surgery because of its good healing results. Since 1983 we use this incision for bone grafting in cleft palate patients. Out of 120 cleft palate patients which had marginal incision for bone grafting, 9 developed local dehiscence, 3 times in combination with partial loss of the cancellous bone transplant. We saw one total loss of the transplant caused by infection. The good results of primary wound healing, the absence of horizontal scars and the possibility of mobilisation of epithelium from the cleft region to cover the transplant with mucosa from the alveolar process are the advantages of this procedure.