LeFort Distraction in the Cleft Patient

The cleft patient may present with significant maxillary deficiency requiring maxillary advancement to establish balanced facial form and function. Often these skeletal advancements require movement of the maxilla of more than 10 mm. The cleft patient poses special challenges because of difficulty of mobilizing tissues on a multiply operated maxilla, as well as long-term stability. Distraction osteogenesis is a technique that may be applied to help move the maxilla over a long distance and slowly expand the soft tissues. A discussion of the orthodontic and surgical considerations when planning and executing the technique is presented.