Delayed bone grafting in the cleft maxilla and palate: a retrospective multidisciplinary analysis

The results of delayed bone-grafting procedures in a group of twenty-four cleft patients are reported. All patients benefitted from closure of their fistulas. The need for a prosthesis was eliminated in twelve patients, and eight of the remaining twelve patients required only a three-unit bridge. Residual movement of the premaxilla in two of the nine bilateral cases included in this study was detectable. The esthetic benefits were difficult to assess since sixteen of the patients simultaneously underwent lip and nasal revisions. In seventeen patients, the graft was placed prior to canine eruption, and in sixteen of these patients, the canine erupted passively into the arch. Not every patient with a cleft is a candidate for delayed bone grafting, but the procedure has been found to be beneficial in selected persons.