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Published on: October 20, 2023
Does Early Secondary Alveolar Bone Grafting Influence Need for Additional Maxillary Advancement Procedures in Cleft
Kathlyn K Powell1, Paul Lewis1, Rae Sesanto1
1School of Dentistry, 83488University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
Objective:
To determine if secondary alveolar bone grafting (SABG) timing in patients with cleft lip and palate (CLP) influences the future need for additional maxillary advancement procedures, particularly Le Fort I osteotomy with rigid external distraction (RED).
Design:
Retrospective cohort study. Groups were separated by SABG timing: early mixed dentition (ages 68 years) or late mixed dentition (ages 9-11 years). The criterion for RED was negative overjet ≥8 mm, and sufficient dental development for RED.
Setting:
Single tertiary care institution.
Patients:
Patients with CLP that underwent SABG from 2010 to 2015. Exclusion criteria included syndromic conditions, SABG surgery at age >12 years, current age <12 years, and <2 years follow-up. 104 patients were included.
Main Outcome Measures:
The number of RED candidates and treated patients.
Results:
There was no statistical difference in the number of RED candidates (P = .0718) nor treated patients (P = .2716) based on SABG timing; stratification by laterality was also insignificant. Early SABG is associated with higher odds of being a RED candidate (pooled, unilateral, bilateral) and treated patient (pooled and unilateral); however, there were no statistically significant associations between SABG timing and the number of RED candidates and treated patients as determined by logistic regression models.
Conclusion:
There is no statistically significant association between SABG timing and the odds of being a RED candidate or treated patient. Future prospective studies are recommended to assess the relationship between SABG timing and maxillary growth in patients with CLP.

