Assessment of the permanent canine bone support after secondary bone graft in UCLP patients

Park, Ki Tae

Abstract

The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate the level of alveolar bone support of the erupted permanent canine through the reconstructed cleft region compared to the contralateral canine on the non-cleft side. This study was limited to children with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate who underwent secondary alveolar iliac bone graft and the apices of the erupted canine roots were closed at the time of evaluation. With these criteria the study included 21 children whose average age at the time of bone graft reconstruction was 9.8 years, with a minimum of 12.4 years of age at the time of the evaluation. The study was limited to the use of iliac cancellous bone as the autograft material for reconstruction of the alveolar cleft. Cranial bone graft and other autogenous bone sources were excluded. The periapical radiographs were used to evaluate alveolar bone level of each canine. The percentages of root supported by the bone were established by dividing the amount of root covered with the bone by the anatomic root length. The canine of the non-cleft side was used as an internal control and the canine on the cleft side was used as an experimental. There was a statistically significant difference in the alveolar bone support ratio between the control (92.9%) and experimental canines (88.7%). An average of 95% level of alveolar bone support was achieved for the experimental canine in comparison to the control canine. Neither the presence of lateral incisor, nor the stage of root development of the canine at the time of the bone graft appeared to have affected the alveolar bone support ratio of the canine after the secondary bone graft.