Secondary bone grafting for unilateral alveolar clefts: a review of surgical techniques

For the past 5 years we have been performing the closure of the oronasal fistula with alveolar bone grafting in the early-to-late secondary time period. The final decision as to whether early or late grafting should be done is based on if a grafting is needed to support the eruption of a functional lateral incisor. Generally the Moczair type buccal flap, with a "Z" release for wide clefts, is used for the buccal flap. This is combined with lateral releasing incisions on the palate for palatal closure. Separate nasal and oral closures are performed in all cases, with bone placed between the two layers in the alveolar defect. It is believed that this treatment sequence best fulfills the criteria for successful alveolar bone grafting outlined at the beginning of this chapter. Figure 8 demonstrates an alveolar bone grafting procedure in a 10-year-old girl just before eruption of the canine tooth treated with a buccal Moczair flap, lateral releasing incisions on the palate, two-layered closure, and the placement of an iliac bone graft.