New findings concerning early bone grafting procedures in patients with cleft lip and palate

The following paper reports on our investigations of long-term results of 177 primary bone grafting procedures carried out in the period from 1959 to 1969. In an assessment of possible influential factors (multivariate statistical analysis), neither age at operation, dental hygiene, cleft form, aplasia or loss of teeth near cleft nor the surgeon was found to influence the success of the primary bone grafting procedure. The only significant correlation we found was that between cleft width and Bergland Index. In small clefts up to 4 mm wide, Bergland Index IV was not recognized. However, no cleft larger than 8 mm developed a Bergland Index I. Our results lead to the conclusion that primary bone grafting in wide clefts should not be performed as a single-stage procedure. We presume that, in wide clefts, a two-stage primary bone grafting procedure would likely have led to better long-term results.