Abstract
This study was undertaken to estimate the interdental alveolar bone height in regions undergoing bone grafts, and to determine what factors were correlated with the prognosis of the bone graft. A total of 120 alveolar clefts in 107 patients were studied. The alveolar clefts received grafts of autogenous particulate cancellous bone obtained from the iliac bone. The cases were documented by periapical radiographs taken before bone grafting and between 12-18 months after grafting. Successful bone formation (i.e., an interdental alveolar bone height of the grafted portion measuring more than 3/4 of the root length of the upper central incisor adjacent to the cleft), was observed in 70.8% of all clefts. The rate of successful bone formation was significantly higher in the group in which the bone graft was performed at less than ten years old than that in the older group. Unfavorable results were found at a significantly higher rate in cases in which the average width of the alveolar cleft was more than 11 mm. Thus, the age at the time of bone grafting, or the width of the alveolar cleft was definitely shown to affect the prognosis of the bone graft in the alveolar cleft. The eruption stage of the canine on the cleft side, or the cleft type, tended to be related to whether the interdental alveolar bone height was formed successfully or not.
