Orthodontically guided bone transport in the treatment of alveolar cleft: A case report

Conventional treatments are sometimes not possible in certain alveolar cleft cases due to the severity of the gap which separates the fragments. Various management strategies have been proposed, including sequential surgical interventions or delaying treatment until adulthood to then carry out maxillary osteotomies. A further alternative approach has also been proposed, involving the application of bone transport techniques to mobilise the osseous fragments and thereby reduce the gap between lateral fragments and the premaxilla.

We introduce the case of a 10-year-old patient who presented with a bilateral alveolar cleft and a severe gap. Stable occlusion between the premaxilla and the mandible was achieved following orthodontic treatment, making it inadvisable to perform a retrusive osteotomy of the premaxilla in order to close the alveolar clefts. Faced with this situation, it was decided we would employ a bone transport technique under orthodontic guidance using a dental splint. This would enable an osseous disc to be displaced towards the medial area and reduce the interfragmentary distance. During a second surgical intervention, closure of the soft tissues was performed and the gap was filled in using autogenous bone.

The use of bone transport techniques in selected cases allows closure of the osseous defect, whilst also preserving soft tissues and reducing the amount of bone autograft required. In our case, we were able to respect the position of the premaxilla and, at the same time, generate new tissues at both an alveolar bone and soft tissue level with results which have remained stable over the course of time.

Alveolar cleft, bone transport, graft.