Early alveolar bone grafting has a negative effect on maxillary dental arch dimensions of pre-school children with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate

Effects of Secondary Alveolar Bone Grafting on Maxillary Growth in Cleft Lip or Palate Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

To assess the effect of secondary alveolar bone grafting (SABG) on maxillary growth in patients with unilateral cleft lip or palate (UCL/P).

Systematic review and Meta-analysis.

Pubmed, Cochrane Library, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science and manual search was performed to assess the maxillary growth following SABG in UCL/P patients.

Non-syndromic patients with UCL/P.

Comparison of maxillary growth between patients with UCL/P who underwent SABG and UCL/P patients who had not undergone SABG or non-cleft control.

39 of the identified 233 articles were assessed for inclusion and exclusion criteria after duplicate removal and title and abstract reading. 7 articles (1 prospective, and 6 retrospective studies) were included in the qualitative analysis and 2 articles were subjected to quantitative analysis. Four studies had a low risk of bias and three studies had a moderate risk of bias. Meta-analysis revealed a significant reduction of SNA and no significant difference in ANB in the SABG group compared to the non-cleft control group(I2 = 0%). There was no significant difference in ANB between SABG and non-cleft control; however, results showed high heterogeneity(I2 = 83%). Meta-analysis of SNA and ANB showed no significant difference between SABG and the cleft control group; however, there was high heterogeneity.

The studies showed a low to moderate risk of bias. SABG causes inhibition of maxillary growth in patients with cleft lip or palate when compared to patients with non-cleft control. Due to high heterogeneity, comparison to cleft control showed insufficient evidence.

Effect of Surgical Timing to Dental Health in Secondary Alveolar Bone Grafting: Three-Dimensional Outcomes

BACKGROUND

There are various opinions on the optimal timing for performing secondary alveolar bone grafting (SABG). This study compared dental health and 3-dimensional outcomes according to the timing of SABG surgery.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

A retrospective chart review was performed in patients who underwent SABG between January 1996 and October 2020. Patients were divided into early SABG (6-8 y old) and traditional SABG (9-13 y old) groups. The final dental survival of the lateral incisor and canine teeth, survival of the bone graft, and maxillary growth were analyzed using plain radiographs and computed tomography with a 3-dimensional volumetric analysis tool.

RESULTS

Thirty-six patients were divided into an early group (15 patients) and a traditional group (21 patients). Five patients had bilateral cleft lip, and 26 patients had unilateral cleft lip and palate; therefore, 36 alveolar clefts were analyzed in this study. Lateral incisor survival was significantly greater in the early group than in the traditional group (60% vs. 23.5%; P<0.05). Compared with that in the traditional group, graft success in the early group was greater (80% vs. 57.1%; P<0.05). Three-dimensional volumetric analysis revealed superior bone graft efficiency in the early group compared with the traditional group (55.2 vs. 38.5%; P<0.05). There was no significant difference in maxillary growth between the 2 groups.

CONCLUSIONS

In our study, superior dental and clinical outcomes were observed in the early SABG group without any long-term complications or maxillary retrusion. Our institution cautiously indicated that SABG could be performed at an age earlier than the existing SABG performed after 9 years old.

Alveolar Bone Grafting in Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate: Impact of Timing on Palatal Shape

Alveolar bone grafting (ABG) is a critical surgical intervention in patients with a cleft of the alveolus, aimed at reconstructing the alveolar ridge to facilitate proper eruption, periodontal support, and alignment of adjacent permanent teeth. The optimal timing for ABG remains debated, with late secondary ABG between the ages of 9 and 11 being widely adopted. This study compared the palatal shapes of 28 children at a mean age of 9.5 years (SD = 0.7) who underwent early secondary ABG at a mean age of 2.1 years (SD = 0.6) or 33 children at a mean age of 10.8 years (SD = 1.5) who underwent late secondary ABG at a mean age of 8.6 years (SD = 1.3) to 60 non-cleft controls at a mean age of 8.6 years (SD = 1.2). The palatal shapes were captured with 239 landmarks digitized on the palate on a digital model. Utilizing geometric morphometric methods, i.e., generalized Procrustes superimpositions, principal component analysis, and permutation tests, we assessed the impact of ABG timing on palatal morphology. The first five principal components (PCs) explained 64.1% of the total shape variability: PC1 = 26.1%; PC2 = 12%; PC3 = 11.9%; PC4 = 7.8%; and PC5 = 6.4%. The Procrustes distance between both cleft groups and the control group was more than twice as large as the Procrustes distance between the early ABG and late ABG groups. Nonetheless, all intergroup differences were statistically significant. Our findings suggest that early ABG has a limited negative effect on palatal shape, providing comparable outcomes to late ABG. The study highlights the potential suitability of early ABG, challenging conventional practices and encouraging further exploration into its long-term effects on maxillary growth.

Alveolar cleft bone grafting at different age periods

Relevance. Anatomical and functional disorders in congenital clefts may be various. Their severity depends on the cleft size and on the combination of a cleft lip with an alveolar cleft. Alveolar cleft bone grafting (ACBG) is one of the most important surgeries for patients with cleft lip and palate rehabilitation. The study aimed to analyze the results of alveolar cleft bone grafting in various age groups, summarizing the available data and supplementing them with our own experience.

Materials and methods. In our clinic, 488 patients of different ages (from 4 to 18 years old), including patients with bilateral clefts, underwent ACBG.

Results. The result analysis showed the time of surgery should depend not on the child's age but on the orthodontic preparation of the child for ACBG.

Conclusion. The literature data and our experience allowed us to develop indications for ACBG at different ages

Early Secondary Alveolar Bone Grafting and Facial Growth of Patients with Complete Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the craniofacial growth outcomes of early secondary alveolar bone grafting(ABG) around 6 years of age.

DESIGN

Retrospective cohort study.

SETTING

1 North-American and 5 Northern-European cleft centers.

SUBJECTS

33 subjects with CUCLP consecutively treated with secondary ABG around 6 years of age were compared to 105 subjects from 4 centers treated with late secondary ABG and 19 subjects from 1 center with primary ABG.

METHODS

Preorthodontic standardized lateral cephalometric radiographs taken after 12 years of age were traced and analyzed according to the Eurocleft Study protocol. Fourteen angular and two proportional measurements were performed. Measurement means from the Study Center(SC) were compared to 5 Northern-European centers using analysis of variance and Welch's modified t-tests, and P < .05 was considered statistically significant.

RESULTS

For the SC, the mean age ± SD at the time of bone graft was 5.85 ± 0.71 years and the mean age at the time of the lateral cephalogram was 13.4 ± 1.8 years. The sagittal maxillary prominence of the SC was favorably comparable to the 5 Northern-European centers. The mean SNA (78.1 ± 4.3) for the SC was significantly higher compared to 4 of the 5 Northern-European centers(all P < .05), and the mean ANB angle was comparable to 4 of the 5 centers. Similarly, the mean soft tissue ANB angle was not significantly different to the 5 centers. The soft tissue vertical proportions compared favorably to all 5 Northern-European centers(all P < .01).

CONCLUSIONS

Craniofacial growth outcomes of early secondary ABG around 6 years compare favorably to the outcomes of late secondary ABG.

Impacted maxillary canine in unilateral cleft lip and palate: A literature review

Background

The incidence of canine impaction in unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) is increasing and in most cases is a part of a syndrome. The provision of different treatment modalities in these patients is a challenging and daunting task.

Objective

The objective of the present review was to scrutinize the available evidence on canine impaction in UCLP patients.

Materials and methods

Using PRISMA guidelines, a review was conducted via the PubMed (MEDLINE), ISI Web of Knowledge, Google Scholar, and Embase databases using different keywords. Studies were shortlisted and inspected according to the following inclusion criteria: (1) papers published in English over the past 40 years, (2) study participants with maxillary canine impaction in unilateral cleft lip and palate, (3) studies reporting on canine impaction and cleft lip and palate, and (4) no age limit was applied so studies published on both children and adults with unilateral cleft lip and palate and canine impaction were included. Studies which justified inclusion criteria were included whereas the rest of the studies were removed.

Results

A total of 279 studies were retrieved using the search strategy. After removing duplicate reports and scrutinizing those based on title and abstract, 54 studies were shortlisted for full text review. Following the review, 22 studies were included in the final list. The presentation of data was based on the year of study, type of cleft, gender, age of bone graft, spontaneous eruption, and surgical exposure.

Conclusion

Every UCLP patient is different and treatment modalities should vary according to the characteristics, subjective response, and variability of the malformation.

Early versus late alveolar bone grafting in unilateral cleft lip and palate: Dental arch relationships in pre-adolescent patients

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the dental arch relationship in preadolescent children with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate after early secondary alveolar bone grafting (E-ABG) by comparing to late bone grafting (L-ABG).

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Two raters blindly assessed the dental arch relationship with the modified Huddart-Bodenham (HB) Index for 2 groups: E-ABG group (36 children, mean age 9.6 years) and L-ABG group (56 children, mean age 11.1 years). The groups differed with respect to age at which alveolar bone grafting was performed: between 1.4 and 4.1 years (mean 2.2 years, E-ABG group) and after 8 years (L-ABG group). T-test was run to compare scores between 2 groups. Regression analysis was carried out to evaluate gender, age at cleft repair, age at ABG, and age at assessment with the HB index.

RESULTS

The overall HB scores were -6.77 and -4.25 in the E-ABG and L-ABG groups, respectively (p = 0.025). Regression analysis showed that only the age at cleft repair influenced the HB scores.

CONCLUSION

ABG carried out between 2 and 4 years of age does not seem to negatively affect the dental arch relationship at the age of 10 years in comparison to L-ABG.

Facial Growth of Patients With Complete Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate Treated With Alveolar Bone Grafting at 6 Years

Objective:

To investigate the effect that alveolar bone grafting (ABG) around 6 years of age has on facial growth by assessing craniofacial growth outcomes.

Design:

Retrospective cohort study.

Setting:

North American cleft centers.

Participants:

A total of 33 children with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate who were consecutively treated with secondary ABG around 6 years of age were compared to 148 participants from 4 centers with late secondary ABG.

Methods:

Preorthodontic standardized lateral cephalometric radiographs were analyzed and traced according to the Americleft Study protocol. Sixteen angular and 2 proportional measurements were performed. The outcomes of all ABG were assessed using the Standardized Way to Assess Graft scale. Measurement means from the study center (SC) were compared to 4 North American centers using analysis of variance and Welch modified t tests, and P < .05 was considered statistically significant.

Results:

For the SC, the mean age (SD) at the time of bone graft was 5.85 (0.71) years and the mean age at the time of the lateral cephalogram was 13.4 (1.8) years. The sagittal maxillary prominence of the SC was comparable to the 4 other centers. The mean SNA (78.1 [4.3]) for the SC was significantly higher compared to one center that used primary bone grafting ( P = .03). The soft tissue mean ANB (3.52 [4.09]) for the SC was significantly lower compared to 3 of the centers.

Conclusions:

Early secondary ABG around 6 years of age did not result in reduced midface projection as assessed by SNA and thus did not compromise anterior maxillary growth.

[Timing of alveolar bone graft and sequences of canine eruption in cases of cleft lip and palate: a systematic review]

INTRODUCTION

The alveolar bone graft (ABG) is an important phase in the surgical treatment of cleft lip and palate (CLP). The purpose of alveolar bone grafting is to eliminate oronasal fistulas, restore the continuity of the maxilla and provide optimal periodontal support for spontaneous eruption of permanent canines adjacent to the cleft. The purpose of this systematic review was to determine the ideal timing of the ABG that would achieve these goals.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Databases consulted were MEDLINE, Embase et EBSCOhost, using keywords present in the MeSH: [cleft lip and palate] and [alveolar bone graft] and [tooth eruption]. Selection criteria included retrospective studies, prospective studies and meta-analyzes dating from January 2005, with available full text.

RESULTS

Among 105 references, 9 articles met our selection criteria. ABG carried out before or just after the eruption of permanent canines adjacent to the cleft, between 8 and 12 years old, has the best success rate of the transplant (71% to 89%) and the lowest risk of canine inclusion (5% to 19%).

CONCLUSION

According to literature data, the optimal timing of ABG that provide best results is located between 8 and 12 years, before or just after the eruption of permanent canines adjacent to the cleft. However, this timing could be modified by the multidisciplinary team according priorities, particularly aesthetic, defined for each child.

Three-Dimensional Changes of Maxilla after Secondary Alveolar Cleft Repair: Differences Between rhBMP-2 and Autologous Iliac Crest Bone Grafting

Background:

Recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein (rhBMP)-2 has been used as an alternative to autologous bone transferring, a standard method of treatment. However, its potential adverse effect on anterior maxillary arch is unknown. Thus, the purpose of this study was to quantify sagittal and transversal changes of anterior maxilla after secondary alveolar cleft repair using traditional iliac crest bone grafting versus rhBMP-2.

Methods:

Twelve unilateral complete cleft lip and palate patients were randomly divided into 2 groups. In group 1, patients underwent traditional iliac crest bone grafting transferring (n = 4), and in group 2, patients underwent alveolar cleft reconstruction using collagen matrix with lyophilized rhBMP-2 (n = 8). Computed tomography (CT) imaging was performed preoperatively and at 1 year postoperatively, using a previously standardized protocol. A three-dimensional (3D) CT cephalometric analysis of the linear and angular measurements of the sagittal and transverse maxilla planes was performed to assess intra- and intergroup maxillary changes.

Results:

Intra- and intergroup comparisons of the pre- and postoperative 3D CT cephalometric linear and angular measurements of the sagittal and transverse maxilla planes showed no significant (all P > 0.05) differences among all studied variables.

Conclusions:

There were no significant anterior maxilla changes after maxillary cleft repair either using iliac crest bone grafting or rhBMP-2.

Outcome of bone availability after secondary alveolar bone graft in two age groups

The aim of this study is to evaluate outcome of bone availability after the secondary alveolar bone graft in 2 age groups: group 1 patients were between 9 and 13 years old and group 2 patients were above 14 years old. Acceptance success criteria (ASC) consisted of sufficient bone height (more than 10 mm), bone width (more than 4 mm), and adequate continuity between maxillary segments. The height and width of alveolar grafted bone were measured by using the cone-beam CT scans. We studied 45 patients who underwent a bone graft in their alveolar cleft in 2 groups (25 patients in group 1 and 20 in group 2). The results showed that as the patients' ages increased, the incidence of ASC significantly decreased. In group 1, 23 patients had ACS (92%), and in group 2, only 4 patients (20%) had ASC. Cleft type did not affect the ASC. The critical age for decreasing ASC was 14.5 years. Our study showed successful outcomes of grafted bone were good when done in the mixed dentition period. Additionally, bone availability was more predictable at the mixed dentition stage.

Facial esthetics in children with unilateral cleft lip and palate 3 years after alveolar bonegrafting combined with rhinoplasty between 2 and 4 years of age

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate facial esthetics in patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) after alveolar bone grafting combined with rhinoplasty between 2 and 4 years of age.

DESIGN

Retrospective case-control study.

SETTING

The Department of Pediatric Surgery, Institute of Mother and Child, Warsaw, Poland.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Photographs of full faces and cropped images of five nasolabial components: nasal deviation, nasal form, nasal profile, vermillion border, and inferior view were assessed by 5 professional and 14 layraters in 29 children (23 boys and 6 girls; mean age = 5.3 years, SD 0.5; Early-grafted group) and 30 children (20 boys and 10 girls; mean age = 5.5 years, SD 1.0; Non-grafted group) with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate repaired with a one-stage closure. The groups differed regarding the timing of alveolar bone grafting: in the Early-grafted group, alveolar bone grafting in combination with rhinoplasty (ABG-R) was performed between 2 and 4 years of age (mean age = 2.3 years; SD 0.6); in the Non-grafted group, the alveolar defect was grafted after 9 years of age. No primary nose correction was carried out in any group. To rate esthetics, a modified five-grade esthetic index of Asher-McDade was used, where grade 1 means the most esthetic and grade 5 - the least esthetic outcome.

RESULTS

Esthetics of full faces and of all nasolabial elements in the Early-grafted group was significantly better than in Non-grafted group. The scores in the Early-grafted group ranged from 2.30 to 2.66 points, whereas in the Non-grafted group ranged from 2.66 to 3.17 points. All intergroup differences were statistically significant (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Three years post-operatively, early alveolar bone grafting combined with rhinoplasty is favorable for facial esthetics in children with UCLP, but a longer follow-up is needed to assess whether the improvement was permanent.