Objective: The primary goal of maxillary alveolar cleft reconstruction in patients with cleft lip/palate at the phase of mixed dentition is to build bone in the cleft area which in turn allows closure of the oronasal fistula, establishes arch continuity, and improve maxillary stability. This study aimed to evaluate the double iliac corticocancellous bone plates grafting technique for initial alveolar cleft grafting.
Design: This prospective study was conducted on 12 consecutive patients with unilateral complete alveolar cleft and previous cleft lip and palate corrective surgery.
Intervention: For all patients, the iliac crest graft was harvested and cut into 2 cortical bone plates and adapted labially and palatally. Both plates were fixed with screws then the gap between the 2 plates was filled with cancellous bone. The grafted side was compared to the contralateral side 9 months postoperatively regarding labio-palatal alveolar width and bone density, while the 9 months postoperative graft height was compared to the immediate postoperative height using computed tomography scans.
Results: All grafted sides showed similarity to the contralateral sides regarding both alveolar width and bone density with minimal crestal bone resorption.
Conclusion: The double iliac corticocancellous bone plate grafting technique seems to be a reliable method for alveolar cleft reconstruction with adequate bone quality and contour.
Keywords: alveolar cleft reconstruction; corticocancellous bone plates; mixed dentition phase.